The Love of the Clan Trilogy Book 3: Every Sunset by the Border
by TigerFlower08
Summary: The last book in the Love of the Clan Trilogy. Thunderclan is under constant attack from Riverclan, Reedstar has lost all faith in his ancestors. Constant battles ensue. When two apprentices share an unlikely friendship their love grows. Will they be able to heal the wounds forged by their parent's clanmates or will they forever be divided by the border? READ THIS STORY LAST!
1. Prolouge

**Here is the prolouge to the third installment of my new trilogy The Love of The Clan. This is book 3: Every Sunset at the Border. I reall yhope you guys like it and please please review after this chapter to let me know what you thiknk and if it is worth continueing. Enjoy :D**

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Alliances

**Thunderclan**

Leader:

**Amberstar:** a light brown tabby she-cat with even lighter almost white tabby stripes and white paws. She has dark amber eyes and cares greatly for all cats. KITS: Drizzlelight, Willowfall, Birdstrike.

Deputy

**Shimmerlight:** a bright ginger she-cat with ice blue eyes, a white muzzle and white chestfur. Mate: Bluecloud. KITS: Swiftpaw, Hazepaw.

Medicine Cat

**Topazmist:** a light tabby ginger she-cat with a white muzzle and paws and deep water blue eyes. She is the sister to Squirreltail and Rowanflight.

Medicine Cat Apprentice

**Hazepaw:** a small pale blue gray tom with steel blue-silver eyes and white flecks through his pelt giving him an ominous glow.

Warriors

**Bluecloud:** a large broad shouldered blue tom with large white paws and light blue eyes. Mate: Shimmerlight. KITS: Swiftpaw, Hazepaw.

**Whitefog:** a smoky white and gray she-cat with dark amber eyes, was Icedapple's sister. KITS: Shinepaw, Spiderpaw, Skyshine. Apprentice: Flowerpaw.

**Stoneshine: **a large gray tom with thick shaggy fur and amber eyes. Mate: Squirreltail. KITS: Flowerpaw, Mosspaw, Lichenpaw.

**Squirreltail:** a dark fiery ginger she-cat with bright greenish blue eyes and white chestfur, sister to Rowanflight and Topazmist. Mate: Stoneshine. KITS: Flowerpaw, Mosspaw, Lichenpaw.

**Skyshine:** a large white tom with gray patches and dark amber eyes. Mate: Willowfall. Apprentice: Mosspaw.

**Drizzlelight:** a small light brown tabby she-cat with white tabby stripes.

**Birdstrike:** a large dark gray tom with black tabby stripes and white chest fur and a white muzzle. Apprentice: Linchenpaw.

**Lionstreak: **a small light ginger tabby tom with darker ginger stripes and white belly fur, light ice blue eyes. Apprentice: Swiftpaw.

**Petalblossom: **a delicate silver and white tabby she-cat with white paws, a white muzzle and slightly darker silver ripples against her lighter silver pelt.

Apprentices

**Flowerpaw:** a pale ginger and white patched she-cat with soft green eyes. Mentor: Whitefog.

**Mosspaw:** a gray and white she-cat with dark blue eyes. Mentor: Skyshine.

**Lichenpaw:** a black she-cat with long fur, a smushed face and bright green eyes. Mentor: Birdstrike.

**Swiftpaw:** a dark blue gray tom with a white muzzle and white tail tip. The rest of him is a solid blue-gray color, dark water blue eyes and short white whiskers. Mentor: Lionstreak.

Queens

**Brightwing:** a white and gray she-cat with amber eyes. Mate: Gorsefur. KITS: Petalblossom, Icekit (white tom with blue eyes), Snowkit(white tom with amber eyes).

**Willowfall:** a small light silver tabby she-cat with darker tabby stripes and light amber eyes. Mate: Skyshine.

Elders

**Gorsefur:** a dark gray and black tabby tom with dark amber eyes. Mate: Brightwing. Former mate: Silverstreak. KITS: Stoneshine, Mosspaw(deceased), Petalblossom, Icekit, Snowkit. Retired when he lost his sight due to the Panic Fever.

**Rowanflight:** a light ginger tom with lighter ginger stripes and dark water blue eyes. Never was the same after Leopardlight vanished, brother to Squirreltail and Topazmist. Mate: Leopardlight. KITS: Shadowsplash(deceased), Shimmerlight.

**Leopardlight:** Slender golden, black and brown dappled she-cat with icy blue eyes and white paws. Mate: Rowanflight. KITS: Shimmerlight, Shadowsplash(deceased).

**Silverstreak:** a slender silver and black streaked she-cat with blue eyes. She has a hard time accepting strange cats and doesn't trust easily. Former mate: Gorsefur. KITS: Stoneshine, Mosspaw(deceased).

**Frostflower:** a once beautiful pure white she-cat with blue eyes. Was the first cat to greet Leopardlight when she first joined the clan. Shimmersky was the last kit she ever had.

**Tansystalk:** a sleek black and white tortoishell queen with soft amber eyes and white chest fur. She lost her mate and her entire litter to greencough and adopted Leopardlight's and Rowanflight's kits. Retired after the Panic Fever.

**Riverclan**

Leader:

**Reedstar:** a large and muscular gray tom with a light hint of blue in his pelt. Bright yellow eyes and long tooth like claws.

Deputy:

**Mintflower:** a sleek black she-cat with blue eyes and a white throat stripe.

Medicine Cat:

**Nightswallow:** a small black she-cat with blue eyes.

Warriors:

**Featherstripe:** a gray and black striped tom with amber eyes. Spends a lot of time near the Windclan border.

**Pebbleleap:** a small blue she-cat with long flowing fur and a white muzzle.

**Swirlspots:** a cream colored she-cat with soft luminescent amber eyes and paler white markings around her eyes and paws.

**Bumblestrike:** a large gray and black striped tom with soft green eyes.

**Grouseflight:** a small springy brown tom with bright yellow eyes.

**Flameclaw:** a dark ginger tom with long fur and amber eyes.

**Galeforce:** a young white tom with blue eyes and gray markings around his face.

**Shalepelt:** a large black she-cat with white paws and blue eyes.

**Splashtail:** a young ginger and white she-cat with long flowing fur and golden eyes.

Apprentices:

**Moonpaw:** a small white she-cat with gray patches over her haunches and on the sides of her back legs, and within the gray patches are dark black stripes. Striking green eyes and delicate pink pads on her paws and a tiny pink nose.

**Foampaw:** a blue and white patched she-cat with amber eyes.

**Lightpaw:** a white tom with amber eyes.

**Driftpaw:** a black she-cat with yellow green eyes.

Queens

**Foxstreak:** a ginger she-cat with a white throat and white belly fur and silver eyes. Former mate: Featherstripe. KITS: Leafkit.

**Doveheart:** a gray and white she-cat with amber eyes. Mate: Flameclaw. KITS: Blazekit, Emberkit, Scorchkit.

**Shadefoot:** a smokey black she-cat with green eyes. Mate: Unknown. KITS: None

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An ominous dark moon hung high in the sky, the night was cloudless and there was no wind to utter a sound. It was quiet, too quiet. In the shadows moved a figure, a large dark tom, the lightless night casting a darker shadow over him, making it almost impossible for him to be spotted.

He moved quickly and carefully, silent as the world around him, his experience allowing him to blend effortlessly into the dark wilderness. He charged on, the quiet bubbling of an approaching stream begins to interrupt the darkness, stopping momentarily at the streambed the tom hesitated for a heartbeat before plunging into the chilly depths.

Strongly he paddled his way across the stream; he pulled his water logged body back out of the stream and back on dry land, continuing his journey.

The tom paced almost madly as he moved into enemy territory, he quickly worked his way through the territory and relief prickled his pelt as he crossed the scent lines, signaling that her had passed through the territory safe and unnoticed. The sickening scent of twolegs filled his nostrils as the tom crept into the concrete jungle of unfamilair territory.

Back at camp a lone figure sat, staring in the direction of the camp entrance, her pelt pricked uneasily at the starless sky and a restless dream plagued her mind. The she-cat stood to her paws as a tom returned to the camp, his familiar scent smelled of crisp water droplets and something else, something strange.

The tom padded straight toward the she-cat his yellow eyes glinting in the darkness, something dangled from his jaws. As he reached the she-cat he carefully placed the bundle on the ground, between his forepaws, he leaned protectively over his prize.

Before speaking he simply cleared his throat "Nightswallow" he began, "What are you doing out and about at this time of night?"

The black she-cat thought carefully before she spoke "I could ask the same of you, Reedstar"

The light gray almost blue tom snorted at her response, "Must the clan leader explain his actions?"

"You should always consult me when your mind is troubled" Nightswallow meowed quietly "I am your medicine cat" she continued, carefully taking a step toward him.

Reedstar tried to take a step back but refused to move away from his precious bundle "Medicine cat" he scoffed "What good are you when starclan has turned their backs on us"

Nightswallow frowned at her leader's words, but did not act surprised, this is not the first time she had heard him speak such things.

"Starclan has not turned away from us" she cautioned quietly, as not to awake any of their clanmates.

"Of course they have" Reedstar argued, he pointed toward the sky with his tail "Look to silverpelt, there are no stars. The sky is dark and the night is cold, our ancestors have betrayed us" as he rasied his voice a tiny squeak came from between his paws.

Nightflower tilted her ears towards the sound "Reedstar what is that?" she asked, taking a step forward to investigate.

Reedstar back away quickly, taking the wailing bundle with him.

"Is that a kit?" Nightswallow asked "Where did you get her?"

"It does not matter, do not ask this of me" Reedstar demanded before soothing the small white and gray patched she-kit, "She is mine now, my daughter "he murmured quietly.

An eerie feeling crept through Nightswallow's pelt but she did not dare speak.

"Her name will be Moonkit for the moon is the only light we can trust"

Nightswallow shook her head angrily "Reedstar you are wrong, our ancestors have not betrayed us"

"Haven't they?" he spat, "Why were you out here? Hiding from another night of restless dreams, desperately searching for answers, for a reason to their silence?" he demanded "I'll tell you the reason, they have abandoned us"

Reedstar looked up at the sky, his yellow eyes blazing "They took my only kit from me; Mothpetal deserved a better life than she was given. I will never forgive them and I will never forgive Thunderclan" he slowly lowered his head, meeting Nightswallow's shocked gaze "The only real things in this world are life and death, blood and pain. You will soon realize what I know and you would do well to forget starclan, your faith will only bring you sorrow"

Without another word he lifted the small kit in his jaws and headed to his den.

Nightswallow desperately looked to the sky, willing and praying for some sign of hope. Suddenly the sky grew dark, blocking out the light of the moon and Nightswallow found herself struggling to breath as the sign overwhelmed her.

Then within a heart beat the moon was once again bright and the sky once again cloudless, Nightswallow breathed a sigh of relief and smiled up at the sky as the star slowly began to re appear.

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**AN: Once again don't forget to review and let me know what you think or what you noticed or what grabbed your attention, anything like that. See you guys soon.**

**-Tigerflower08**


	2. Chapter 1

**Here we go, chapter one. Alrighty obviously its way longer than my usuall chapters. I like to stay between 1200 and 1700 words normally but this one got wayyyy out of control. I hope you all love it and enjoy the special and rare treat of a chapter over 2000 words long. :D enjoy and please leave a lovely review.**

**Also im going through and fixing any and all typos so ill also add responses to reviews.**

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A small apprentice worked his way past the owl tree, the new-leaf mid-day sun hanging directly above him in the sky, stopping for a moment to bury a fat red squirrel. After the prey was buried he lifted his head and tasted the air, his mentor's words fresh in his mind when Lionstreak caught him dangling from a low hanging tree branch by his teeth.

"_Swiftpaw, if you ever want to be a warrior you need to stop acting like a kit. Your mother is the clan deputy for starclan's sake, show a little dignity."_

The juicy scent of rabbit hit the roof of Swiftpaw's mouth and he quickly changed direction and began to track the scent. His scolding still bouncing around in his mind.

"_If you don't bring back enough prey to feed all of the elders then don't expect to be attending the gathering tonight. And remember to stay far away from the Riverclan border."_

_Swiftpaw just rolled his eyes at Lionstreak and scoffed back "Even the kits know about that rule" and without another word Swiftpaw had charged into the forest in search of prey._

A change in the trail brought Swiftpaw back into reality, his pelt quivered as he began to follow it, realization on where the rabbit was heading dawned on him.

"_Riverclan!"_

He skidded to a halt, stating to turn away from the direction of Riverclan and away from the prey.

"_Lionstreak told me I have to get as much prey as possible, and Silverstreak really loves a fat rabbit" _Swiftpaw argued, turning back around to face the Riverclan territory. He was currently standing on a grassy hill, he could look down and see a bunch of large rocks beside the river. "_Those must be Sunningrocks" _he thought, excitement tingling from his whiskers all the way to his tail.

He took a few cautious steps forward, looking around anxiously. The chances of a border patrol catching him were slim but the daily fighting patrol could show up at any moment.

For as long as Swiftpaw could remember warriors returned to camp injured and bloodied from battles with Riverclan. Riverclan warriors began attacking hunting and border patrols ruthlessly until Amberstar, in order to protect her clanmates, banned all travel to the Riverclan border and in order to prevent Riverclan from invading Thunderclan's territory she insisted that a daily fighting patrol be created.

Made up of four to five warriors the patrol sat by the river most of the day in case any Riverclan cats showed up, the warriors were instructed to always try to talk first but Riverclan was never keen on the idea.

The rabbit scent wafted toward Swiftpaw and looking down he spotted it digging near the rocks, oblivious to the hunter stalking it carefully.

Taking a deep breath he bunched the muscles in his legs prepared to run, he was aptly named for he was the fastest apprentice by far, he shared his mother's small tribe-like stature and lean build, other than that he looked like his father Bluecloud.

_Swiftpaw quickly remembered the first time he saw his own reflection as a kit. He was disappointed with his pelt and eye color, both blue with a splash of white around his nose. He had always pictured himself with a firey ginger pelt like his mother and large muscles like his father. Instead he was small and blue gray, not able to easily claim that he was the deputy's son._

_At first he resented looking like his father until the day he witnessed his father take on a full grown fox when Swiftpaw and his brother Hazepaw decided to sneak out of camp as kits. It was the first time Swiftpaw realized what an amazing warrior his father was. Never again after that did he harbor resentment in his heart for looking like his father._

Making sure the wind hadn't changed he took one long deep breath, Swiftpaw could feel his heart pounding in his chest and he kneaded the ground in anticipation waiting for the right moment.

_Now!_

Swiftpaw erupted from his crouch, easily closing the gap between him and his prey. The rabbit, sensing danger, sat up and bolted along the water's edge.

Swiftpaw cursed at the sudden change in direction and turned quickly back toward the rabbit. The wind coursed through his pelt, the world became a blur and his heart pounded faster as he got closer to the rabbit.

The muscles in his legs began to burn as he launched himself, landing squarely on the large rabbit. It fought against him and Swiftpaw resorted to sliding one paw beneath the rabbit to hold it still long enough for a killing bite.

Searing pain shot from his foot up his leg but he held on tight and swiftly killed the rabbit. When the prey stopped moving he jumped away from it looking down at his paw.

"Foxdung!" he cursed, a small trickle of blood seeped from a bite wound on the middle of his paw.

"Stupid rabbit" he spat, he swatted the dead prey roughly. Angrily he stalked up to it, limping slightly, and slowly dragged it up the hill.

Curiously he looked back down at the river, he hadn't been caught, no one had seen him, no monsters made of smoke came out and no giant black fish had tried to eat him.

Nothing, all the stories from the nursery were exactly that, stories.

Suddenly a shape emerged from a clump of reeds. Swiftpaw quickly lowered himself to the ground. "_This is it, I'm going to die" _he thought "_This Riverclan warrior is going to find me and kill me"_

Despite his fear and the fact that he knew he should grab the rabbit and run, he couldn't move, he was frozen, in curiosity.

He watched the warrior as they padded up to the bank and bunched their muscles, jumping out onto what Swiftpaw thought could possibly be the stepping stones from his mother's stories.

The cat, a she-cat, sat daintily on the middle stone and dabbed one of her forepaws in the river, she did this a few times before Swiftpaw's curiosity got the better of him and he began to make his way down the hill, he hid behind sunningrocks for a moment, quietly watching the she-cat before he began to trot down river toward the stepping stones.

As he got closer he realized this she-cat couldn't be more than seven moons old, she was no warrior. From his new position he still couldn't figure out what she was doing but he now had a clearer view of her.

She had a white pelt with light gray patches on her haunches and on the sides of her back legs. Inside the gray patches were darker almost black tabby stripes, he was close enough to even see her soft delicate pink pads on the bottom of her paws.

Swiftpaw stared at her for a moment, amazed by her concentration and focus and the fact that she hadn't noticed him yet. He was right at the edge of the bank, barely two foxlengths away from her.

"E-excuse me" he meowed, silently cursing when his voice caught in his throat "What are you doing?"

The she-cat's head shot up to look at him, she stepped backwards her green eyes fearful.

"St-Stay away from me" she stammered, as she took another step back her foot got caught on the last stepping stone between her and dry land and she fell backwards into the shallows, splashing water onto the stones and Swiftpaw.

Swiftpaw stifled laughter "Are you okay?" he meowed stepping closer to her to help, suddenly his forepaws slipped on the newly wet rocks sending him yowling as he plunged into the river's dark depths.

Swiftpaw felt himself panic as he began to be moved down river and he struggled in vain to get his head above water. The chilled water clung to his short pelt, pulling him downward no matter how hard he scrambled for the surface.

Just as his head broke the surface he fought for a fresh breath but could only feel water in his mouth, coughing and spluttering he felt the river tugging him downward again.

Just when he had given up, surrendered to the river's cold clutches he could feel himself being propelled toward the shore.

Soon he could feel pebbles under his paws as he reached the bank. Stumbling out of the water he coughed roughly feeling water coming up out of his throat.

Finally when he had cleared his throat he looked to his savior, a bout of shivers causing his entire body to shake uncontrollably, he was chilled to the bone.

The white and gray patched she-cat smirked at him amusedly "Well you're obviously not much of a swimmer."

Swiftpaw opened his mouth to fire back a retort when he spotted the laughter in her green eyes. "S_he is only teasing you mousebrain" _he thought as he shakily stood to his paws.

"Yeah well I'm better at running, I can even catch rabbits" he boasted while puffing out his chest, he flinched when his stomach growled.

"But not good at eating them I guess" the she-cat teased "But I guess kitty-pets can eat whenever they want so there isn't much of a point to eating what you kill."

"I'm no kittypet" Swiftpaw hissed "I'm a Thunderclan apprentice" suddenly he bristled, feeling like he needed to prove himself to this strange she-cat "And you're on our territory."

The she-cat looked around in amazement "Is that what this place is? I've never been here before, apprentices aren't allowed and my father doesn't really let me go anywhere alone."

Swiftpaw smirked "I go wherever I want."

The she-cat stared at him in amazement "Wow really?" she giggled and curled her tail around her paws "I'm Moonpaw."

Swiftpaw smiled "I'm Swiftpaw, what were you doing earlier?" he asked "You know before you tripped on the stones?"

Moonpaw smirked "You mean before you almost drowned and I had to save you? I was fishing" as Swiftpaw's stomach growled again her eyes brightened "I'll catch you a fish to eat, I've been practicing really hard."

Without waiting for a response she moved closer to the river, she sat poised with a paw in the air. Quickly her paw shot forward and out of the water flew a wriggling silver fish. Moonpaw pounced on it, swiftly killing it. She pushed the prey over to Swiftpaw.

"Here, you can have the first bite" she meowed.

Swiftpaw wrinkled his nose at first as the scent of the fish filled his nostrils "I don't know" he meowed cautiously "I'm not supposed to eat before my clanmates."

Moonpaw shrugged "Suit yourself" she took a few swift bites of the fish licking her lips.

"Alright move over" Swiftpaw meowed, no longer able to ignore his growling stomach. He took a tentative bite moving the fish meat around in his mouth and tasting it. The taste was strange but very succulent and juicy.

Swiftpaw easily finished the fish off by himself and began grooming down his drying blue fur.

Moonpaw sighed loudly "I wish Riverclan was going to the gathering tonight, your so much fun". Swiftpaw nodded in agreement, ever since the fighting began Thunderclan and Riverclan took turns going to gatherings. Tonight Thunderclan would be attending and Riverclan would stay behind,

Swiftpaw stood up shaking away any last bit of water from his pelt "Well I had better get back to camp" he looked up at the sky, it had turned to soft shades of orange, purple and red "We will be leaving for the gathering soon."

"Goodbye Moonpaw, it was nice meeting you" he meowed trotting away from her "Oh and thanks for saving me."

Moonpaw smiled and nodded "Anytime."

Swiftpaw waved goodbye with his tail, heading back up the hill where he left the rabbit.

"Swiftpaw wait!" Moonpaw called, racing after him, when she reached him she was breathing heavily and her green eyes sparkled.

"Will you come back here tomorrow?" she asked "Will you meet me here and tell me what the gathering was like?"

Swiftpaw felt his heart jolt "Y-yeah of course" he stammered, his fur growing hot.

"Thank you Swiftpaw" Moonpaw squealed, touching noses with him before racing back to the water's edge. Swiftpaw watched her fearlessly launch herself into the river and paddle strongly to the other side.

"Wait, Moonpaw" Swiftpaw managed to yell "When?"

"Sunset."

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**Review response time**

**Riley Dragon: nice to see your review, im glad you enjoyed the chapter**

**Rainwind alias Dazzlespark: thanks for the review, im glad that you enjoy my stories and its never too late to post reviews on my older ones ;) lol**

**Rebel Islander: thanks for reviewing, I always love seeing your reviews. I can't tell you where the kit came from but i can tell you that she did not come from any of the other clans. You will have to keep reading to find out her true identity.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Here is chapter 2, I hope you all enjoy it and I would like to apologize for the long time in between updates, I was being super super lazy this week and just couldn't get myself to type up this chapter. Well it's typed up and ready to be read. Please leave me a super long review and I cant wait to see your responses to it. Enjoy :)**

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Swiftpaw sped through the territory; the plump rabbit and red squirrel dangling from his jaws and catching on brambles as he raced back to camp. The sky grew darker with each passing heartbeat and his paw began to throb, the ignored the pain and felt his heart leap as the camp entrance came into view. Suddenly he stopped, anxiety prickling his pelt.

_"What if my clanmates find out where I've been" _he thought, quickly he dropped the prey and ducked his head giving his pelt a quick but thorough washing _"I hope I got all of the Riverclan and fish scent off of me."_

Taking a deep breath and standing tall, he gripped the rabbit tightly in his jaws and trotted into the camp. When he got within the camp walls he saw that his clanmates were already gathering to leave, he held his head strongly and padded straight to the elders den, aware of Lionstreak's icy gaze following him.

He pushed his way into the elders den, spotting Silverstreak lying beside Leopardlight and Rowanflight. Frostflower was nowhere to been seen and her scent in the den was stale. _"She must be going to the gathering tonight" _Swiftpaw thought and as he moved closer to the elders, setting the rabbit and squirrel at their paws.

"Here Silverstreak, I know you like rabbit" Swiftpaw meowed, pushing the plump prey towards the silver and black streaked elder.

Silverstreak's blue eyes lit up and she licked her lips before taking a bite of the prey, after chewing meticulously and swallowing she smiled "Thank you Swiftpaw." He pushed the squirrel to Leopardlight and Rowanflight and both elders took a few bites as well.

Swiftpaw was about to turn and leave when Silverstreak spoke up again "Interesting" she murmured.

"What's interesting?" Swiftpaw meowed carefully, anxiety prickling his pelt.

When he looked over her could see Silverstreak examining her claw, hooked on the end of it was a small piece of reed.

"W-Whats that" Swiftpaw forced himself to say, his tail tip flicking nervously.

Silverstreak sniffed at it carefully before speaking "This rabbit came from Riverclan or at least near the border" she cast a suspicious glance at Swiftpaw "Where did you catch this?"

Swiftpaw hesitated "B-by the owl tree"

Silverstreak narrowed her eyes meowing hotly "Rabbits don't roam near the owl tree, owls eat rabbits."

Leopardlight snorted loudly "Really Silverstreak" she hissed "Did you forget that rabbits have feet and they can go where they please. It's quite possible that the rabbit was down by the river and then wandered up to the owl tree"

Silverstreak snorted and turned away from Leopardlight "All I'm saying is it's suspicious"

Leopardlight smiled at Swiftpaw "Now run along, or the clan will leave for the gathering without you."

Swiftpaw smiled back at Leopardlight, his pelt prickling with excitement about the gathering as he raced out of the elders den, catching the group of his clanmates leaving for the gathering just as they were about to leave.

Lionstreak rolled his eyes but nodded, letting Swiftpaw know he was allowed to come. Swiftpaw quickly fell into step beside his brother Hazepaw.

He held a special place in his heart for Leopardlight; the youngest elder had always taken it upon herself to make Swiftpaw and his brother feel special. She always took a special interest in them when they were younger and was willing to play silly kit games with them. Swiftpaw felt a purr build up in his chest at the memories of his favorite elder.

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As they got closer to fourtrees Swiftpaw could feel his paw beginning to throb again, growling to himself he tried to lighten the pressure on his foot but it only caused him to limp.

"Are you okay?" Hazepaw whispered to his brother, concern thick in his voice.

Swiftpaw nodded "Yeah that rabbit I caught bit me before I managed to kill it."

Hazepaw rolled his eyes and pushed his brother playfully "Is it even possible for you to come back to camp unscathed?"

Swiftpaw shrugged and said nothing as the scents of the other clans wafted toward them, the mighty oaks of fourtrees within sight.

As they entered fourtrees Thunderclan quickly dispersed to share tongues with the other clans. Amberstar leapt up onto the highrock, greeting Windclan's new leader Rabbitstar. The young tom had wiry light brown and black fur and shifty yellow eyes. The tom's tail twitched back and forth nervously and his paws kneaded the ground impatiently as he waited for the gathering to start.

Swiftpaw felt Hazepaw leave his side and watched his brother follow Topazmist to where the other medicine cats gathered beneath a large holly bush. As soon as Hazepaw sat down beside a smallginger apprentice, Finchpaw if he remembered correctly, a slender black she-cat slunk over to them. She gave a polite greeting before sitting down a few paces away from the other medicine cats, her blue eyes sad and her dark pelt dusty and ruffled.

_"That must be the Riverclan medicine cat" _Swiftpaw thought _"Ill have to ask Hazepaw about her"_, curiosity prickling his pelt. Even though Riverclan and Thunderclan attended gatherings at different times, the medicine cats, eager to stay out of the warriors business, insisted that they be allowed to attend every gathering.

Hazepaw had been able to attend every gathering since he was made a medicine cat apprentice. Envy coursed through Swiftpaw's pelt as he thought about the next gathering that Moonpaw could possibly be attending and he would not, but Hazepaw would.

Growling at himself to stop being so mouse-brained he looked around for somewhere to go, even though he had been an apprentice for nearly three moons this was his first gathering.

"Nervous?" Swiftpaw jumped at the voice and turned to see his father, Bluecloud, standing beside him.

Swiftpaw puffed his chest out "Of course not", Bluecloud followed his son's gaze and smiled knowingly before speaking.

"I know you and Hazepaw have always been close, it must feel strange to see him over there with the other medicine cats"

Swiftpaw frowned, feeling a tug at his chest as he watched his brother speak to easily with the other medicine cats, cats who to Swiftpaw could not be friends, only enemies.

"You have chosen different paths, paths that you cannot take together" Bluecloud continued "But that doesn't mean you cannot walk together"

Swiftpaw rolled his eyes, sometimes his father just didn't make sense.

"You will understand someday" Bluecloud purred, he looked up to see Shimmerlight approaching them, followed by two strange cats "I think your mother wants you to meet them" he flicked his tail toward the approaching cats.

Shimmerlight sat down beside Bluecloud twining her tail with his while the small white she-cat sat down in front of Swiftpaw, her plump belly squishing out as she sat. Beside her sat a large gray and black striped tom with glossy fur beneath his wind blown scent Swiftpaw could catch the softest hint of fish.

"This is my son Swiftpaw" Shimmerlight meowed to the strangers "You already met Hazepaw"

"Well he looks just like Bluecloud" the white she-cat noted "Probably for the best" she teased "Thunderclan has got too many ginger cats, you are all starting to look related"

The large gray and black striped tom rolled his eyes at the she-cat's remark but remained silent.

"Swiftpaw" Shimmerlight meowed "This is my good friend Emeraldsky and surprisingly her mate Featherstripe"

Emeraldsky rolled her green eyes "No need to act so surprised"

Shimmerlight flicked the white queen with her tail tip teasingly "I'm only surprised because you said you would never take a mate, and here we are" she meowed pointing to the queen's swollen belly.

Emeraldsky purred "I remember you saying such things not too long ago"

Swiftpaw shifted uncomfortably on his paws as the queens talked, he kept his eyes on Featherstripe. The tom was built large, larger than any Windclan cat, even larger than most of Thunderclan's warriors. His build and glossy coat seemed so familiar and yet so strange that Swiftpaw searched his mind for why it looked so unique.

Bluecloud finally spoke up "I guess the toms of Windclan just didn't have what you were looking for" at his words the air became tense and Emeraldsky bristled. Featherstripe placed his tail lovingly on Emeraldsky's shoulder, calming her.

The striped tom thought for a moment before speaking "I know my former clan has hurt yours" he steadily met Bluecloud's blue gaze with his own amber ones "But I am not loyal to them anymore, I am loyal to Emeraldsky"

Bluecloud nodded solemnly as if the answer satisfied him but his eyes remained narrowed as Shimmerlight chatted with Emeraldsky.

Swiftpaw felt his heart jump _"Riverclan!, Featherstripe is from Riverclan. Maybe he knows Moonpaw" _Before he could speak the call for the gathering to begin sounded.

Swiftpaw glanced up at his father, the blue tom looked uncomfortable and Swiftpaw racked his mind in search of the reason why. Suddenly it hit him, Bluecloud was uncomfortable because Emeraldsky's mate came from another clan. Swiftpaw remembered his father had always spoken seriously about the warrior code, and been disappointed and even angry at those who broke it.

Swiftpaw gulped loudly, sheathing and unsheathing his claws uncomfortably, _"Would Bluecloud be angry with me, for meeting Moonpaw tomorrow?" _as the thought crossed his mind, he glanced at Bluecloud, meeting his father's blue eyes with his own.

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**Sorry for the cliffhanger lol. Sorry but you wont get to hear about the gathering until Swiftpaw tells Moonpaw, that is if her keeps his promise and meets with her. Please leave a review and let me know what you think will happen and what you like about the story.**

**-Tigerflower08**

**Review Responses**

**Riley Dragon: thanks for reviewing**

**Rainwind alias Dazzlespark: I have always loved forbidden love lol, thanks for the review**

**Rebel Islander: thanks for the review, I always love seeing them. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter.**

**Silverstream25: your email address didn't show up, I wont be able to let you know when it updates. If you find your way back here and want me to alert you that way, try PMing me your email address and ill be sure to let you know whenever I update. Thanks for the review.**


	4. Chapter 3

**Here is chapter 3, i hope you all enjoy it and leave a lovely review. I hope everyone who reads this leaves a review because id like to know what my fanbase looks like lol. Well its not like anyone actually reads these things lol. How about if you read this chapter, leave a review and somewhere in it put in the word fuzzball. Lol then ill know you read this!**

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The moon hung high in the sky and the stars shone brightly overhead as the Thunderclan warriors made their way back to camp. Swiftpaw trudged sleepily into camp and to his nest in the apprentice's den. Curling up, he buried his nose in his fur, closing his eyes as darkness engulfed him.

_Swiftpaw felt himself sinking, looking around he couldn't tell where he was all he could see was darkness. A chill crept through his pelt and his lungs burned as the air in his chest went stale._

_He fought hard to open his mouth, to take in fresh clean air but despite his efforts he couldn't pull in a fresh breath._

_His eyes began to sting as if he was underwater but he didn't feel wet and looking around he couldn't see any ripples that would be caused by moving water. Suddenly i felt his feet brush against something solid, he pushes against it and was once again floating in the airless darkness. He felt as though he were moving upwards but in the total darkness he couldn't tell. All of a sudden the moon appeared above him, casting a silver glow in the darkness._

_In the pale light of the moon he could now see rippling water around him, he paddled weakly toward the moon, and hopefully toward the surface, his lungs screaming in pain. Despite the pain in his lungs he continued to paddle closes and closer towards the moon._

_He was so close, could feel the crisp cold air on his whiskers as he broke the surface, he immediately took a deep breath feeling his lung rejoice at the clean crisp air, panic coursed through him as he felt something grip his back legs._

_He looked down to see deep green vines wrapped around his hindlegs. He managed to sneak another quick breath before the vines dragged him back down to the depths._

_As he was dragged deeper and deeper his lungs burned, his heart pounded and his vision darkened. For some reason he looked straight up to the moon as his vision began to go black, before the total darkness took him he witnessed bright green eyes appear. _

_Then darkness._

Swiftpaw jolted awake, his heart racing, staring into a pair of green eyes. For a moment his heart quickened at the sight of them before he realized the pair of eyes before him were all wrong. They weren't bright, but pale, they didn't have shimmering flecks of blue around the outer ring, but flecks of amber. And the voice belonging to these eyes was not soft and silky like honey, not like Moonpaw's.

"Finally your awake" the pale ginger and white she-cat before him meowed.

"What do you want Flowerpaw?" Swiftpaw grumbled, laying his head back down on his paws.

"Well since you have been sleeping like a badger all day Whitefog canceled my battle training today"

Swiftpaw snorted "And I care because?"

Flowerpaw growled "Because we were supposed to work on tactics for multiple foes together while Lichenpaw and Mosspaw were on patrol"

Swiftpaw rolled his eyes while she rambled on, unaware that he was barely listening. Instead his mind wanted to thoughts of the river and his dream.

_"Maybe my dream was a warning" _he thought _"Maybe I should stay away from the border"_

Hearing Flowerpaw clear her throat he looked up to see her watching him expectantly.

"What did you say?"

Flowerpaw sighed in frustration "I said that since you couldn't manage to wake up this morning we got stuck doing the cleaning around camp. We need to clear out the nursery and one of us needs to watch the kits while the other cleans. Which job do you want?"

"I'll clean" Swiftpaw wrinkled his nose at the idea as he stood to his paws, pushed pass Flowerpaw and stalked to the nursery. He blinked furiously as his eyes adjusted to the new-leaf mid-day sun. As he approached the nursery he could see Willowfall sharing prey with her mate Skyshine a few foxlengths away from the nursery. The sleek silver tabby's plump belly rose and fell contently with each breath as Skyshine slowly the groomed the fur behind her ears.

Swiftpaw sat beside the nursery entrance waiting as Flowerpaw joined him, Brightwing padded out her two kits scampering behind her.

"Alright" the white and gray queen purred "Who is kit-sitting?"

Before Flowerpaw could speak Swiftpaw flicked his tail and spoke "She is"

Brightwing nodded standing up, her tail tip flicking back and forth "I'm going on a hunting patrol to stretch my legs" she looked down, pulling the larger kit, Snowkit, away from Flowerpaw's tail. She looked down at him sternly and he scurried back to his brother.

"Icekit, Snowkit"

The two kits looked up at their mother innocently as she spoke.

"You had better behave for Flowerpaw and Swiftpaw" she gave them both a quick lick before trotting away. Snowkit watched her leave, his amber eyes glinting mischievously.

As soon as his mother was out of sight Snowkit turned to face his smaller brother Icekit. He waggled his haunches and launched himself at his brother, easily knocking him to the ground.

"Riverclan intruder" Snowkit shouted, pinning his brother down "I'm Snowstar, give in intruder". Icekit whimpered "I don't wanna be Riverclan, I'm always Riverclan!" Icekit leapt to his paws "I wanna be Icestar"

Swiftpaw snorted as the kits argued before speaking "Snowkit should be the intruder". Icekit smiled triumphantly as Swiftpaw took his side.

"Aww, why? I'm much stronger than Icekit, he should be the intruder!" the kit's white pelt fluffed out as he argued.

"Riverclan warriors are much larger than us" Swiftpaw pointed out "It would only make sense that Icekit be the Thunderclan warrior since he is smaller"

Snowkit pouted for a moment before facing Icekit again, much more interested in playing than in arguing "Alright I'll be the intruder" he crouched low before jumping on Icekit.

Flowerpaw purred loudly watching them play, turning around she set her pale green eyes on Swiftpaw "You're really good with kits" she complimented "You will be a great father"

Swiftpaw stepped back "Yeah, I guess" before Flowerpaw could speak again and make him anymore uncomfortable he slipped into the nursery. Looking around in the dim nursery Swiftpaw saw that Willowfall and Brightwing's nests had already been rolled into neat piles and placed by the entrance.

_"Brightwing must have tricked Snowkit and Icekit into cleaning up the bedding" _Swiftpaw thought amusedly, he remembered how eager he had been to become and apprentice when he was a kit and how any chore he could do felt as though it was bringing him closer to his 6th moon.

Swiftpaw easily pushed the used bedding behind the nursery, as he came back around he saw Flowerpaw had everything under control with the kits.

"I'm going to get more bedding from behind the medicine den" without waiting for a response before trotting across camp. He stalked behind the medicine den grumbling to himself before spotting his brother's blue and white pelt.

"Hazepaw" he called, bounding over to where his brother was rummaging through moss.

Hazepaw looked up at him and smiled "Hey Swiftpaw" he greeted "What do you need? Does your paw hurt? Because I know what to do!" he meowed excitedly.

Swiftpaw covered his brother's mouth with his tail "I'm fine" he purred "I'm just grabbing some bedding for the nursery"

"I thought you were supposed to be battle training today"

Swiftpaw shrugged "Nah, I slept in too long"

Hazepaw nodded "Well maybe Lionstreak will take you out later" he meowed hopefully.

Swiftpaw rolled his eyes "Yeah right, he is too busy mooning after Petalblossom"

Hazepaw shrugged "She is a pretty cat and it is that time, everyone is catching new-leaf fever. You have got the same look on your face as every other cat; I sure hope the lucky she-cat isn't Flowerpaw"

Swiftpaw rolled his eyes uncomfortably "Yeah right"

Hazepaw shrugged again as Swiftpaw lifted some bedding in his jaws "Whatever you say"

Swiftpaw rolled his eyes and padded back towards the nursery, he stalked past Flowerpaw not looking at her as she waved him over, instead determined to finish his duties for the day. He swiftly set up two clean nests in the nursery and padded back outside. Looking up at the sky his heart sunk, seeing the sky growing darker and the sun sinking lower in the sky. It was nearly sunset.

Suddenly Swiftpaw felt as though he was standing at a crossroads. He had two choices, either he could continue with his duties and forget about his chance meeting with Moonpaw. Continue life as it is, with no excitement, no chance of adventure. If he chose this path he would probably settle down with Flowerpaw or one of her sisters, raise a couple kits and retire to the elders den when the time came as a respectable and loyal warrior of Thunderclan.

Swiftpaw turned around looking at the camp entrance longingly. Or he could walk out of the camp, and take a leap of faith. Take a chance that maybe this path would be what starclan had intended for him. A life of mystery, adventure and maybe even a little danger. An unknown and possibly a happier future.

Swiftpaw glanced towards the warriors den where his father and mother lay, sharing tongues and grooming each other in the dying light of the sunset. Swiftpaw spotted Hazepaw heading toward the camp entrance and bounded over, he reached his brother just before he was out of camp breathing heavily he meowed.

"Hazepaw, I need your help"


	5. Chapter 4

**Here is chapter 4, not that exciting of a chapter but it is still totally necessary so please read and review. Hopefully i will have the next one up soon. Please please please review :D i really miss waking up with emails telling me people have been reading.**

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The two small blue toms worked their way quickly through the brush and the bracken. The sun sunk lower and the sky was lit with hues of orange, red and purple. The cool new-leaf air grew colder with each passing heartbeat and the slightly damp dirt beneath the tom's paws sent a cold chill through their muscles.

Hazepaw skidded to a halt beneath the ancient sycamore tree causing Swiftpaw to spin around and face his brother. Swiftpaw breathed heavily, his blue pelt fluffed out in urgency and his dark blue eyes shifting around uncomfortably.

"Hazepaw, come on" Swiftpaw begged, looking up at the sky nervously.

Hazepaw shook his head "No, not until you tell me where we are going" he ducked his head giving his white and blue pelt a few swift licks before looking back up, meeting his brother's gaze "I had to lie to Topazmist and Shimmerlight just to get you out of camp, they think we are gathering herbs. So I think I deserve an explanation"

Swiftpaw frowned and looked down, not meeting his brother's stern gaze "I'm meeting someone and I want you to meet her"

Hazepaw bristled but before he could speak Swiftpaw silenced him.

"It's not what you think" he hissed angrily, his pelt fluffing out defensively "I need you to trust me"

Hazepaw thought about it for a moment before nodding slowly "Alright Swiftpaw, I trust your judgment" he stood up, waving his tail "Lead on"

Swiftpaw breathed a sigh of relief and charged on toward the Riverclan border, his fur tingling with excitement and fear, the two brothers worked their way through the territory and as they reached the clearing with the hill just as the sun sank behind a clump of pine trees. Swiftpaw raced down the hill, the river now in sight. He could hear Hazepaw following him, cautiously.

As the stepping stones came into view Swiftpaw felt his heart jump, spotting the familiar white and patched pelt of Moonpaw. The she-cat's sweet scent wafted to his scent glands as he slowly trotted to the nearest stone on the Thunderclan side of the border.

"Swiftpaw" Moonpaw meowed happily "You came" although the she-cat seemed happy to see him she remained on her side of the river. Her green eyes glinted excitedly and her fur fluffed out.

Swiftpaw puffed his chest out "Of course I came. I promised to tell you all about the gathering"

"Swiftpaw, what is going on?" Hazepaw asked as he stepped up closer to his brother, his blue eyes wary of the Riverclan she-cat.

Swiftpaw shrugged "I promised Moonpaw I would tell her about the gathering, so i needed to sneak out of camp"

Hazepaw narrowed his eyes "We're not even supposed to be here right now, you know that the Riverclan border is banned for apprentices"

"You come here to get watermint and goldenrod stalks for the herb supply don't you?" Swiftpaw meowed confidently and when Hazepaw nodded in agreement her simply waved his tail dismissively "Then we can bring those herbs back to camp, problem solved"

Hazepaw growled "Yeah I come here every so often, but never without Topazmist" he looked at Moonpaw for a moment "You're Reedstar's daughter aren't you" he bristled "Swiftpaw we can't trust her, let's go back to camp before you do something you will regret"

Swiftpaw shook his head "You can go back if you want, I promised to tell Moonpaw about the gathering"

Hazepaw shook his head "Alright but be quick" the blue tom glanced around "I'm going to gather some herbs by the river". He trotted away casting nervous glances back at his brother. The sun had almost gone all the way down and the sky shone a deep violet and the smallest of stars were beginning to appear. Swiftpaw fluffed his fur out as a cold wind blew, nearly knocking him off his paws. Moonpaw smiled, her green eyes locked with his.

Moonpaw managed to be the first to speak "So what happened at the gathering?"

Swiftpaw shrugged "Oh nothing much" he tried to sound confident and impressive as he spoke "Rabbitstar, Windclan's leader, reported a fox and her kits were on the territory but they chases it away, some kits were born oh and they have two new apprentices Rosepaw and Flurrypaw". Swiftpaw padded out on the stepping stone balancing on two paws as he kept talking, furrowing his brow in concentration "Nightstar didn't say much but there were no elders at the gathering which was strange and all the apprentices were really jumpy and wouldn't talk. He reported six new sets of kits and then stepped down"

Moonpaw frowned "That's a lot of kits at one time, six queens? Are you sure? Riverclan never has more than two or three nursing queens at one time"

Swiftpaw stood back on four paws and shrugged "That's what he said, he could be lying to make the clan sound stronger i guess" spotting the shimmering reflection of a fish he dabbed at the water experimentally, sending the fish in search of cover"

Moonpaw giggled "I'll have to teach you how to fish sometime" she purred "What news did Thunderclan have?"

Swiftpaw swirled his paw around in the water, feeling the water soak through the fur on his foot he pulled it out shaking the chilly droplets from his fur "Nothing new, our only kits are nearly 3 moons old and Hazepaw and I were made apprentices 2 moons ago", at the mention of his brother's name Swiftpaw spotted Hazepaw trotting back towards them, his jaws full of long green stalks with bright yellow flowers.

Swiftpaw hopped back across the stones and back onto his side of the border "I had better go" glancing up, the sky was dark, almost black and the stars were brighter. Moonpaw nodded standing up, she waved with her tail before turning and padding away. Before she disappeared she cast a sorrowful green gaze towards Swiftpaw.

"L-l-lets meet here again" Swiftpaw stammered, unable to just watch the intriguing she-cat leave.

Moonpaw flicked her ears and tilted her head "Really? Alright when?"

"In four sunrises, at sunset" he hissed the words hurriedly as his brother reached him and Moonpaw nodded, her green eyes glinting brightly before she vanished into the reeds.

"Are you ready to go?" Hazepaw meowed impatiently. Swiftpaw nodded, trying to his the smile tugging at his lips, the anticipation of his next meeting with Moonpaw already clouding his mind. The two brothers padded back towards the camp, the evening growing darker. As they got closer to the camp Hazepaw stopped, setting down his herbs.

"Swiftpaw i don't like what's going on between you and Moonpaw" he meowed quietly.

Swiftpaw bristled "Nothing is going on between us; we are friends that want to see each other"

"Meeting her is breaking the warrior code, what about your loyalty to your clan?" Hazepaw meowed irritably, his tail tip flicking back and forth and his claws digging into the soft dirt beneath his paws.

Swiftpaw smirked at his brother before speaking "The warrior code says we can have friends in other clans-"

"Friends you see at the gatherings" Hazepaw snapped.

Swiftpaw looked down and murmured quietly "Gatherings? I can't see her at the gatherings. You don't understand Hazepaw. You can go to all the gatherings you want, you can have friends in every clan, you're not bound by the warrior code"

"I'm a medicine cat" Hazepaw reminded gently.

"Well what make you so special" Swiftpaw snarled angrily, he furiously dug at the grass beneath his paws, ripping it from the ground "I could have been made a medicine cat, just as easily as you"

Hazepaw shook his head, laying his tail gently on Swiftpaw's shoulder "You're a warrior, through and through, you are loyal and I know you will make the right decision" he ducked his head picking up the herbs.

"You're not going to tell are you?" Swiftpaw meowed hopefully. Hazepaw simply shook his head no, but as he trotted away his blue eyes shone sadly.

Swiftpaw breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a great weight lift off his shoulders. As he padded forward he felt light as air, as though he were flying. Padding straight through the camp entrance he crashed into someone.

"Where have you been?" Lionstreak hissed.

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**Review Responses**

**Rainwind alias Dazzlespark: thanks for your review**


	6. Chapter 5

**Here is chapter 5. Enjoy and please leave a nice review :D I hope you all like it things are starting to get moving now. Although this will be a long story since we will be following Swiftpaw, Hazepaw and Moonpaw through their lives as apprentices and warriors.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own warriors or Firestar sadly**

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Swiftpaw looked over his mentor's shoulder, looking to Hazepaw for help. His brother simply shrugged and trotted into the medicine den, his jaws over flowing with the herbs he collected. Swiftpaw slowly looked up, meeting Lionstreak's blazing ice blue eyes.

"I asked where have you been?" Lionstreak repeated, his eyes were narrowed and his tail lashed back and forth.

Swiftpaw shrugged "I was helping Hazepaw gather herbs" he meowed matter of facty, stepping to the side in an attempt to get past his mentor.

Lionstreak easily blocked Swiftpaw's way with his larger body "And who gave you permission to leave camp? Last time I checked apprentices weren't allowed to go waltzing through the territory unsupervised"

"I asked Shimmerlight" he countered "Or are your orders more important that the deputy's?"

Mentor and apprentice stood nose to nose, whisker to whisker, bristling angrily.

Shimmerlight charged over, pushing the two toms away from each other "What is going on?" she hissed "Lionstreak you are supposed to be guarding camp, not arguing with Swiftpaw"

Lionstreak flicked his tail pointing to Swiftpaw "Swiftpaw claims that you sent him to collect herbs with Hazepaw despite the fact that he didn't ask me for permission first"

Shimmerlight nodded "I did give him permission to leave camp with Hazepaw"

Swiftpaw puffed out his chest triumphantly.

Shimmerlight frowned "But I was not aware that he had not asked you first"

Swiftpaw scuffed the ground with his paw.

Shimmerlight turned to face Lionstreak dipping her head to him "I apologize, I did not know he didn't have your permission", she slowly trotted away back into the warriors den.

Lionstreak narrowed his eyes at Swiftpaw "Whitefog and I were going to do battle training with the apprentices just before sunset because we had to cancel this morning when you slept in and since you failed to show up once again we continued without you. If you ever want to be a warrior you need to get serious about your training. If you continue to act like a kit then don't be surprised when Snowkit and Icekit are made warriors before you" as he spoke his voice grew louder.

"Amberstar would never do that" Swiftpaw yowled, stomping the ground in frustration.

Lionstreak shook his head sighing loudly before speaking "As punishment you will be confined to camp until the half-moon" he silenced Swiftpaw before he could interrupt "It would have been a lot worse if you hadn't had permission to be out of camp. I am your mentor, you need permission from me first of all if there is something you want to do" once again he silenced Swiftpaw "Go to your nest"

Swiftpaw sighed in defeat, padding toward the apprentices den, he turned around when he was just outside the den to see Lionstreak pacing in frustration. Taking a deep breath Swiftpaw squeezed into the den, settling in his nest as exhaustion overtook him.

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**Half of a Moon Later...**

Swiftpaw trudged through the camp slowly, it was just after sunhigh and all the other apprentices were out on patrol. It was his last day confined to camp, and his paws itched with the yearning to do something. He had managed to sneak out of camp a few times to visit with Moonpaw, though their meeting became less frequent and the tension of the ongoing feud between their clans was heavy on their minds. In the early morning it was warm and wet causing a thick layer of fog to roll through the camp the moist water droplets sticking to Swiftpaw's pelt uncomfortably.

It was still too early to clean any of the dens and the elders weren't up yet. Willowfall had been kitting all night with Topazmist and Amberstar by her side, the tabby leader must have fallen asleep in the nursery with her daughter. Brightwing was curled up outside the nursery, Icekit and Snowkit pressed tightly against her belly.

Spotting Hazepaw emerging from the medicine den Swiftpaw raced over.

"Hey Hazepaw" he meowed "Want to see who can hold a hunting crouch the longest"

Hazepaw shook his head amusedly "Swiftpaw, we haven't played that game since we were kits"

Swiftpaw dropped into a crouch wiggling his haunches "Aw, come on, I'll bet we can hold it for moons now"

Hazepaw shook his head again "I'm sorry, but I have to go to the moonstone tonight with Topazmist for the half-moon meeting and since she was busy all night helping Willowfall kit she didn't have time to gather the traveling herbs so I'm going out to get them for her"

Swiftpaw groaned "You're so lucky you can leave camp whenever you want"

Hazepaw rolled his eyes and trotted away, out of the camp entrance.

Swiftpaw sighed watching his brother go.

Swiftpaw stalked over to the freshkill pile, nosing through the leftover prey. Thoughts of the succulent fish he had eaten when he met Moonpaw swarmed his mind making his mouth water. Settling for a young bird he trotted over to the stump outside the apprentices den, bunching the muscles in his legs he leapt up and settled on the tucked his tail around his hind paws as he began plucking the feathers from the bird before biting into it and quickly devouring it.

Swiftpaw leapt down from the stump, carrying the bird carcass to the dirtplace behind the nursery, he stopped just beside the nursery, dropping the bird when he heard voices.

"She is so beautiful" Amberstar meowed lovingly "Have you named her?"

"No, not yet" Willowfall murmured.

"May I?" Amberstar asked, her voice dripping with hope.

"Oh of course" Willowfall answered, purring loudly, "She looks just like you and Drizzlelight"

"Mothkit" Amberstar whispered "Her name shall be Mothkit"

"It's lovely" Willowfall purred "But why name her after Reedstar's daughter? Isn't her death a memory the clan should forget?"

"No death should be forgotten" Amberstar snapped, her fur bristling. Suddenly she took a deep breath forcing her fur to lie flat, "I'm sorry" she whispered "Excuse me", Swiftpaw heard the shuffling as the tabby leader stood to her paws, squeezing out of the nursery. He watched as the she-cat trudged slowly to her den, her tail drooping and her head hung low.

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Hazepaw trotted excitedly beside Topazeagle, his pelt quivering with excitement, tonight he would speak with his ancestors. _"And hopefully figure out what to do about Swiftpaw" _he thought, pain gripped his heart as he thought about Swiftpaw, he didn't understand his brother's desire to see this Riverclan she-cat, he didn't understand why it was so important to him.

_"Hopefully starclan can help us sort this mess out" _he thought, spotting the Shadowclan medicine cats waiting for them by the Windclan border.

Mallowbelly sat patiently, her white pelt glowing in the night. Her apprentice Finchpaw sat quietly at her side, despite the ginger she-cat's quiet composer her golden eyes were glistening with fire and excitement.

"We should really get going" Mallowbelly meowed "Ravenflight must already be there by now and Nightswallow already passed through with her new apprentice"

The medicine cats worked their way through the Windclan territory, Topazmist walked beside Mallowbelly and Hazepaw fell in step beside Finchpaw.

"How are things in Thunderclan?" Finchpaw asked, as the two apprentices quietly padded side by side.

"Fine, Silverstreak has been complaining about her back, I've been trying ragwort but it doesn't seem to be working"

"Have you tried adding tansy to the poultice?" she asked "I tried that with one of our elders and he hasn't complained since, well he hasn't complained about his joints" she meowed mischievously.

Hazepaw purred back at Finchpaw as the gaping jaws of mothermouth appeared before them.

Ravenflight were nowhere to be seen. _"They must be inside already" _he thought as he followed the other medicine cats inside, the total darkness made him uncomfortable for a for heartbeats until his whiskers began to brush the walls. Soon the bright light of the moonstone reached his eyes and when the stone was in sight the medicine cats all sat around the stone.

Nightswallow stepped forward "I would like you all to welcome my new apprentice Moonpaw"

Murmurs of greeting sounded from everyone besides Hazepaw. The blue tom narrowed his eyes and adjusted his position trying to get a good look at Moonpaw as the ceremony continued.

"Moonpaw is it your wish to join the ranks of a medicine cat, to stand apart from clan rivalries and the warriors code, do you promise to treat all cats equally and to do all that you can to help others?" Nightswallow asked.

"I do" Moonpaw meowed quietly, she looked down at her paws and her ears flattened against her head, she didn't seem excited at all. Hazepaw frowned, she seemed almost sad to be making her vows, he briefly remembered how excited he had been at his medicine cat ceremony.

After Nightswallow stopped speaking the medicine cats all pressed their noses to the moonstone, quickly falling asleep.

Hazepaw opened his eyes finding himself in a clearing, looking up the stars shone brightly above him. A single star fell from the sky and as it got closer to the ground it changed shape into a fiery colored tom with illuminant green eyes.

"Hello Hazepaw" Firestar meowed, shaking stardust from his pelt "I have a prophecy for you"

All thought of Swiftpaw and Moonpaw flew from his mind as he prepared himself for what he was about to hear, his blue gray fur quivering with excitement.

Firestar warned "Many times before has the fate of the clan been placed in the paws of the young. You will have many moons to prepare for the trouble"

Hazepaw nodded eagerly "Can I tell anyone?"

Firestar nodded "You may tell your mentor and leader whenever you wish, now for the prophecy".

Firestar's green eyes grew brighter until they looked almost white and his pelt began to glow as he spoke in a ominous voice "The vines were not choked and so they regrow, if not destroyed the clan will reap what they sow. Repair torn flesh and broken bone, one full moon one-half nearly grown. Though the breeze may be swift and the shadows hazy, only loyalty to what is right can heal what is shaky"

Firestar began to fade as the words sounded again and when Hazepaw woke he found himself beside the moonstone again. Blinking furiously he stood to his paws, finding himself nose to nose with Moonpaw.

"You have some explaining to do" Hazepaw hissed.


	7. Chapter 6

**Hey everyone, so here is a nice long chapter for you guys just over 2300 words. I hope this treat is enough to get some reviews out of you guys, for starclan's sake lol. But seriously I have this entire story mapped out already and know exactly what is going to happen in each chapter and none of you will get to see :p until I get some reviews. So please take the time to tell me what you thought of the chapter, what you loved? hated? something lol or ill have no idea in which direction to go.**

**Anyways ill shut up and let you guys get to the chapter, enjoy**

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Swiftpaw sat outside the apprentice den, like he always did when Hazepaw left for the half-moon ceremony. He would stay up all night waiting for the medicine cats to return and hear what the others had said throughout the night.

The sky was dark, the star shining brightly and the half-moon glowing brightly overhead.

At the sound of snapping twigs Swiftpaw pricked his ears looking towards the camp entrance. The familiar scents of Thunderclan wafted to his scent glands, but his brother's scent was not among them.

Shimmerlight pushed her way through the entrance, followed by the rest of the Riverclan border fighting patrol made up of Stoneshine, Bluecloud, Drizzlelight and Whitefog. Slinking in behind them was Flowerpaw, her tail was drooping and her eyes were locked on her paws.

Stoneshine and Drizzlelight made gave Swiftpaw a curt nod before trudging sleepily to the warriors den. Shimmerlight trotted past Swiftpaw urgently, her fur fluffed out anxiously, she disappeared behind the nursery and Bluecloud raced after his mate, concern flooding his blue eyes.

Swiftpaw glanced at the camp entrance anxiously before slinking toward the nursery where his parents had disappeared.

"I know what I scented Bluecloud" Shimmerlight hissed, her ginger fur fluffing up all the way down her back, making her tail as fluffy as a raccoon's, "He was here, on our territory right under our noses"

"Calm down Shimmerlight" Bluecloud soothed, placing his tail on her hackles, "You don't know that for sure, he could have just been passing through. The scent crossed over the stepping stones and into Riverclan's territory. He isn't our problem anymore"

"Your wrong" Shimmerlight whispered weakly, her tail drooped to the ground and she stared blankly at the nursery wall, as if seeing something no other could "He promised he would come back, he said that we're not finished and I think he was right"

Swiftpaw crept closer, fear prickling his pelt as he listened, he had never known of anything that could ruffle Shimmerlight this much, nothing that struck this much fear in her eyes.

"I promise" Bluecloud meowed strongly "I will not let Sunvine near you, I wont let him hurt you"

Shimmerlight laughed uncomfortably at her mate's words before speaking, her voice thick with bile "It's not me I'm worried about. It's the kits, Hazepaw leaves camp alone almost everyday, Swiftpaw is always sneaking off and I even fear for Lionstreak" she meowed "If Sunvine is anything like he was when he was banished then he won't rest until everyone I care about is hunting with Starclan"

"Let's not worry anymore tonight" Bluecloud murmured "Let's get some sleep and tomorrow we can check the entire territory for his scent"

Shimmerlight smiled and nodded weakly, twining her tail with Bluecloud's.

Swiftpaw scurried away before his parents could catch him spying. He skidded to a halt as he reached the apprentice den, spotting Whitefog and Flowerpaw in a heated discussion. Both she-cats were bristling and staring each other down, their mouths moved as they argued but Swiftpaw failed to catch the words.

Flowerpaw stalked away from her mentor, towards the apprentice den, her ginger and white fur fluffed out making her look nearly twice her size. Swiftpaw bounded forward, reaching the she-cat before she could disappear into the den.

"What was that about?" Swiftpaw asked standing in front of Flowerpaw, watching Whitefog stalking to the warriors den.

Flowerpaw puffed out her chest "Whitefog was impressed how well I handled myself on the battle patrol. You see Shimmerlight personally asked me to go even though I'm still an apprentice because I had such an amazing battle assessment yesterday"

"Yeah right" Lichenpaw scoffed, stalking toward them towards the den, flicking her sister's face with her fluffy black tail, her bright green eyes glowing in the darkness "She put you on elder duties until after you first moon as a warrior for sneaking onto that patrol, and that's assuming that Amberstar even makes you a warrior tomorrow like she planned, but I don't know after this stunt"

Flowerpaw blushed furiously, her eyes glistening with the wet tears of embarrassment, before charging into the den.

Lichenpaw let our a mrrow of laughter at her sister's expense, and wrinkled her nose as more Thunderclan scent wafted into the camp.

Swiftpaw turned to see Topazmist and Hazepaw trudging back into the camp. Topazmist disappeared into the medicine cat den and Hazepaw slowly padded over to the apprentices den, his icy eyes heavy with sleep.

Swiftpaw flicked his tail back and forth, something was obviously bothering Hazepaw, thoughts burned through his mind. He opened his mouth to speak as Hazepaw reached him but his brother cast an icy glare, silencing him, before simply pushing his way into the den.

Hurt stung Swiftpaw and angrily he stalked into the den, stumbling over Mosspaw's sleeping figure and stomping over to one of the nests near Flowerpaw. Taking a deep breath he flopped down into the nest, closing his eyes, drifting off into emptiness.

* * *

Swiftpaw blinked, wide awake in the early morning, excited to get up and get out of camp. _"Today is the day" _he thought _"The day I get to leave camp and resume my training"._

He sat up, giving his pelt a thorough washing, determined to make a good impression today.

Hearing his clanmates stirring outside the den, he scurried out of the den, the dim light of the sunrise casting a glow though the camp. The air was still cool and crisp and the grass along the ground as damp.

He trotted over to where his clanmates were gathered around Shimmerlight, waiting to receive their daily orders.

"Flowerpaw, Lichenpaw and Mosspaw, you will all have you final assessments today. If all does well you will be warriors by sundown"

The three apprentices tore their way out of the camp, followed more slowly by their mentors.

"Stoneshine, take Drizzlelight to the Shadowclan border and remark the scent lines" The shaggy gray tom nodded before leaving the camp, followed by Drizzlelight.

"Squirreltail take Petalblossom hunting, I'm sure the apprentices will bring back plenty of prey from the forest so head over near the owl tree"

"Bluecloud your coming with me to check on the rest of the territory" she shared a knowing glance with her mate as the gathered cats parted.

Swiftpaw stomped up to his mother "What should I do?" he asked, excitement coursed through his veins, his punishment was over, he could leave camp.

Shimmerlight turned away, not meeting his eyes as she spoke "You will clean the elders den" before he could protest the deputy bounded out of the camp, followed by Bluecloud.

Swiftpaw turned to look at the elders den bristling with anger, he spotted a flash of white and brown tabby fur as Snowkit, Icekit and Mothkit barreled into the elders den in search of a good story.

Grumbling to himself, Swiftpaw dragged his feet as he slowly slunk to the den.

As his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting of the den he spotted Icekit, Snowkit and Mothkit crouched beside Rowanflight who was in the midst of telling an elaborate story.

Swiftpaw padded past them quietly as he began to gather the dirty bedding.

"And then I make it back to the battle and the only thing I see is Leopardlight struggling underneath the largest cat I have ever faced" he paused for dramatic effect "Hawkclaw"

The kits squealed with delight as the story grew more and more riveting.

"Hawkclaw had her pinned, there was no one else around to help, he pinned her down and raised his paws for the death blow"

"Filthy Shadowclan" Icekit spat, "I'll make those crowfood eaters squirm" he dug his tiny thorn sharp claws into the mossy bedding he was sitting on.

Snowkit rolled his eyes dramatically and Mothkit giggled.

"I'm sure you would send those flea-pelts running for the hills" Tansystalk purred, running her tongue over her black and white pelt.

"Anyways" Rowanflight paused, tilting his head to the side "Where was I? Oh yeah, so right before he was about to deliver the blow, I launched myself at him and chased him off the territory"

Mothkit bounced up and down cheering, her light brown pelt downy and kit-soft.

Swiftpaw pushed the dirty bedding outside of the elders den and returned to check for ticks.

"Alright anyone got ticks?" he asked.

Silverstreak snorted "You're supposed to look for them yourself"

Rowanflight rolled his eyes "Don't mind her, I think she had a thorn in her nest all night" the dark ginger tom waved Swiftpaw over "I think I have one right by the base of my tail that I just cant seem to get"

Swiftpaw nodded appreciatively.

"Tell another" Mothkit demanded.

"Yeah tell another story Rowanflight" Icekit begged.

Rowanflight chuckled "Okay, Okay" he thought for a moment before speaking as Swiftpaw worked the large tick from his skin "Have you been told the story of Sunvine?"

The three kit's shook their heads in unison, all of their eyes as bright and as round as a full moon.

At the mention of Sunvine's name, Swiftpaw's ears pricked and he focused on the elder's story.

"Now where should I start" Rowanflight thought for a moment "Sunvine started out like any other Thunderclan kit, he ran around getting under the warriors paws, poked his nose in places he shouldn't have and tried to sneak out of camp more times than I care to count"

Swiftpaw felt a smile tug at his lips, Sunvine sounded like any other cat among the clan at that age.

"When he was an apprentice he became bossy and arrogant, and constantly competing with Shimmerpaw"

"That's Shimmerlight" Icekit meowed.

"She is deputy, why would Sunvine fight with the deputy?" Snowkit asked.

Rowanflight frowned "She wasn't deputy back then, just an apprentice. Stop intterupting. Anyways they were always getting on each other's nerves and this drove Shadowpaw crazy because she was mooning after Sunpaw. This caused a lot of strain on her and Shimmerpaw's relationship"

"Who is Shadowpaw?" Mothkit meowed.

"If you stop interrupting you might find out" Rowanflight meowed sternly.

The three kits quickly covered their mouths with their tails.

"Alright where was I? Oh yes" Rowanflight cleared his throat before continuing "When Sunvine was just an apprentice he murdered a Shadowclan warrior. He claimed he was simply doing it for the clan and he managed to get away with it. As a warrior he attacked Stoneshine, blaming him for bringing what we now call Panic Fever into the camp, resulting in the death of many of our clanmates including Sunvine's mate Shadowsplash and two of his three kits"

"Wait? Sunvine had kits? Who is the third kit?" Icekit meowed, the white kit yowled in surprise as he was bowled over by Snowkit in an attempt to quiet him.

Annoyed with the kits Swiftpaw spoke up from the other side of the den where he was looking over Silverstreak's pelt "Sunvine's living kit is Lionstreak"

Rowanflight blinked graciously to Swiftpaw before continuing the story "Finally in a fight with Riverclan, Sunvine attacked and killed Reedstar's daughter Mothpetal because he believed that she had killed our deputy Minkstripe. After the she-cat's death the war with Riverclan began and Amberstar banished Sunvine to live as a rouge and Shimmerlight was made deputy instead of him"

The three kits cheered loudly as the story came to an end and Rowanflight gave Mothkit a gentle nudge "Now you three run along, back to the nursery with you"

Snowkit scampered out of the den followed quickly by his brother, Mothkit trotted slowly and daintily out of the den, attempting to look more dignified than her den-mates.

Swiftpaw looked around, the elders had all been dealt with and fed thanks to the kits and all of the dirty bedding had been removed and replaced "Well i'll go now, unless you guys need anything else?"

Rowanflight shook his head, his eyes slowly closing as the worn out elder laid down fro a nap. Frostflower purred from her nest near the center of the elders den "Run along now, I'm sure there is prey to be caught"

Swiftpaw blinked graciously to her, racing out of the den. He looked around the camp, all of his clanmates were still gone. None of the patrols had returned yet and Shimmerlight was no where to be seen, Amberstar was busy playing tag with Mothkit and the queens dozed lazily outside the den, soaking up the day's last rays of sunshine.

_"Now is my chance" _Swiftpaw thought to himself _"If I'm going to meet Moonpaw tonight then I had better sneak out now, while I can"_

The small blue tom snuck quietly behind the elders den, slowly climbing up the ravine and pulling himself out of sight. As he reached the top of the ravine he looked back down into the camp one last time before racing off through the territory, in the direction of Riverclan.

* * *

**Once again please leave me a review. I'm very interested in know what you loved, hated or think should be changed or should happen. Please let me know or no more chapters for you :(**


	8. Chapter 7

**Hey everyone thank you thank you thank you for the lovely reviews, I really enjoyed seeing them. So ta da another chapter for you, this one isn't too exciting but once again we all know we need filler chapters as much as we would rather read the action packed stuff. **

**Anyways I'm gonna start responding to all of your reviews at the end of each following chapter, starting with this one. Hopefully it will get people more involved in reviewing if I respond to your questions and acknowledge your loyalty to the story. **

**Anyhoo, lets get on with the chapter and leave a lovely review or a question that you would like answered.**

* * *

Swiftpaw worked his way towards sunningrocks, steering clear of the well worn paths his clanmates regularly took.

The sky above him was darkening, the first streaks of orange and violet appearing around the clouds. The air was cool and the scent of rain travelled on the breeze, making his whiskers twitch uncomfortably.

The juicy scent of rabbit wafted toward him and Swiftpaw's stomach growled loudly as Swiftpaw realized that he hadn't eaten anything yet today.

He willed his stomach to quiet down as he tracked the fresh rabbit scent toward a warren. Just outside of the den, three young rabbits scurried about doing whatever it is that rabbits do.

Before dropping into a hunters crouch he paused for a moment to make sure that he was downwind, remembering his first lesson as an apprentice.

_"A mouse will hear you before it smells you so tread with light feet, a rabbit will smell you before it hear you so check the wind"_

Slowly he began stalking his way toward the unsuspecting rabbit kits, setting his sights on the plumpest of the three. The rabbit was small but had a large round belly, it's tawny fur was glossy and it's tail fluffy. Flexing his claws and flicking his tail back and forth he quickly glanced around for a heartbeat before launching himself towards the warren.

As his paws left the ground the prey suddenly became aware of the danger and took off. The two smaller rabbits raced around in circles for a few heartbeats before diving into the warren to safety. Swiftpaw kept his jaw's clamped around the plump rabbit's throat as the life slowly ebbed from it's body.

Swiftpaw dropped the limp prey and purred in satisfaction before lifting it in his jaws and continuing on to sunningrocks.

* * *

Swiftpaw patiently waiting by the stepping stones, the limp prey at his side. Curiously he dabbed at the clear water flowing slowly past him, sending the fish swimming for the depths.

"Are you begging starclan for a swim?" a voice of silky honey meowed from behind him and Swiftpaw spun around quickly to see Moonpaw standing behind him on the Thunderclan side of the border, her pelt was wet and water droplets fell from her whiskers. Her green eyes were lit up amusedly and a mrrow of amusement escaped her lips as she surprised him.

Swiftpaw stepped forward, brushing muzzles with her, noticing how the feel of her damp fur no longer sent uncomfortable shivers through his pelt.

A deep purr rumbled in Swiftpaw's throat as he spoke "I just had to come and see you, but I can't stay long, my clan will be missing me"

Moonpaw nodded un understanding "I have to tell you something" she looked down at the ground "I'm a medicine cat apprentice now"

Swiftpaw felt his heart jump in his chest "That's great news, now we can see each other at gatherings" he pressed his sleek blue pelt against hers, soaking up the river water from her fur.

Moonpaw nodded slowly "Yes, I thought of that already. My father forced me to take the position, he doesn't want me to learn how to fight anymore" she growled "It's not fair, I want to be a warrior" she hissed.

Swiftpaw frowned "But if your a warrior then we are enemies, but as a medicine cat you can has friends in every clan"

"But no mate" Moonpaw countered, looking down at the ground she scuffed her paws for a moment "Look I gotta go, I'm supposed to be gathering daisy leaves for Nightswallow" she stepped closer to Swiftpaw pressing her body against his roughly, as if trying to disappear inside him. Swiftpaw dropped his head instinctually and rasped his tongue over her white ears, breathing in her scent.

Moonpaw stepped away from him, stepping backwards and waving to him with her tail before sliding into the river and strongly paddling back to her side of the border. She cast a sad glance back at him waving goodbye before disappearing deeper into her territory.

Swiftpaw frowned and lifted the dead rabbit in his jaws, thoughts swimming through his mind as he trotted back to camp.

* * *

Swiftpaw trotted through the main entrance, thought of Moonpaw and her strange behavior distracting him. Suddenly he was facing a pair of blazing green eyes.

Setting down his prey he looked up calmly and meowed "What did I do now Flowerpaw?"

"Flower_tail_" Flowertail spat viciously "Or did you forget that I was being made a warrior today?" she hissed.

Swiftpaw smiled "Congratulation on being made a warrior, but I don't see why your so mad at me. I was hunting" he flicked his tail towards the rabbit.

Flowertail huffed loudly before pelting off in the direction of the forest, disspearing into the darkness.

Swiftpaw rolled his eyes _"She can be really strange sometimes" _he thought to himself as he dropped the plump rabbit on the fresh-kill pile, he belly rumbling loudly reminding him of his hunger. He nosed through the prey pile and deciding to just take the rabbit he caught. He dragged the tawny colored prey to the tree stump beside the apprentice den and began eating.

The sun had completely set and the stars shone brightly in the sky, the moon shone brightly, it was nearly full and able to light up the camp with its silvery glow.

Hazepaw leapt up onto the stump, settling down beside his brother before meowing "Flowertail is pretty upset with you"

Swiftpaw snorted "What do I care?"

Hazepaw rolled his eyes "You know you should probably try to be nicer to her, she is an impressive cat"

"Yeah right, I'll be nicer to her the day she stop yelling at me" Swiftpaw meowed skeptically.

"That will never happen" Hazepaw purred.

"Exactly"

"Looks like Lichenfur and Mossdapple are settling down for their vigil" Hazepaw noted watching the two sisters sitting by the camp entrance.

Swiftpaw looked up movement near the camp entrance caught the apprentice's attention as a flash of white appeared.

A large white she-cat with crystal blue eyes sauntered her way into Thunderclan's camp. No cat made a move to stop her and they all watched with curious eyes as if they knew who she was. Swiftpaw watched curiously as Leopardlight was the first to greet the she-cat.

"Moony, it's been so long" Leopardlight greeted, brushing muzzles with the younger white she-cat "What brings you to our camp? Have you brought your kits to meet us? And don't pretend to not have any, last time you stopped by you were obviously pregnant"

A pained look crossed the Moony's face and he bright blue eyes went dull as if she was thinking about a painful memory, she simply meowed "Much has happened since we spoke last"

Leopardlight frowned, looking around to see a circle of her curious clanmates had formed around them.

"Why have you come?" she asked quietly.

"I have come to take up Amberstar's offer of allowing me to join the clan"

As she spoke shocked murmurs spread through the gathered cats.

Amberstar frowned before speaking quietly "You weren't interested in the offer when it was made, why would you be interested in it now?"

Moony took a deep breath, and for the first time Swiftpaw noticed how thin this she-cat was. Her fluffy white fur looked dusty and dirty and her skin hung loosly on her thin frame.

"When you first asked me to join, i knew of the kits growing inside me. I felt that the best thing to do would be to bring them back to twolegplace and raise them there until the time came when my housefolk would give them away. Then I would be free to join the clan as it was my wish" she spoke with certianty in her voice.

Shocked meows and gasps came from the Thunderclan warriors.

"Your housefolk took your kits from you?" Petalblossom meowed, the first time queen gave her belly fur a few quick licks and curled her tail around her stomach as if to protect her unborn kits from harm.

Moony sighed sadly "Yes it is what has always been done in twolegplace, when our kits meet their sixth moon they are given to housefolk of their own" bitterness welled up in the queens voice as she continued "I had only one kit, a she-kit, and on her second moon she vanished. Plucked from my side in the night" her blue gaze fell to the ground in saddness.

"I assumed my housefolk were responsible and as soon as I could I ran away, I have been living as a rouge ever since, grieving for my lost daughter" she looked up from the ground and met Amberstar's gaze strongly "And it is now that I ask to be accepted into the clan"

* * *

**AN: I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and leave a review. **

**Echo of Dripping Water: thank you for the review it was much appreciated, and I love the names, sadly I had already chosen Flowertail's and Mossdapple's name but I hope you like seeing Linchenfur made it to the story.**

**Kennedy Cortez: Mothkit's parents are Willowfall and Skyshine, which are the children of Amberstar, Minkstripe and Whitefog, Ashenpelt respectively.**

**Rainwind alias Dazzlespark: Don't worry I wont ever stop posting, even if it seems like I will. Sometimes I have like over a month of writers block lol. Hopefully that wont happen with this story. So always look forward to a new chapter at some point. **

**Rebel Islander: As usual I always enjoy seeing your reviews and I totally understand, my finals are quickly approaching so good luck with them! And I hope to see your reviews in the future.**


	9. Chapter 8

**Hey all. Oh my gosh its been over a month since my last update, I'm so sorry. I was horribly sick with a mix of writers block and laziness that is lol. A big thanks to everyone who reviewed, I will be acknowledging them at the end of this chapter and I plan on doing this with every chapter so please leave me a question to answer or leave some kind words behind after you finish reading this chapter.**

**So I know I havnt written a lot of meetings between Moonpaw and Swiftpaw and obviously they cant meet every day lol but they do meet a lot, and always at sunset.**

**This chapter will take place right before the next gathering which Riverclan will attend and Thunderclan will not, but the next chapter will be in Hazepaw's point of view so we will get to meet some of the Riverclan cats. Yay!**

**Let me know if there is anything you want to see happen in this story or if you have any questions, you can PM me or review them after the chapter.**

**Anyhoo here is the next chapter I hope you all enjoy it and leave behind a review. I'll shut up now, enjoy.**

**-Tigerflower08**

* * *

**Half of a Moon Later...**

Swiftpaw trotted back into the Thunderclan camp, a limp rabbit in his jaws, slightly ahead of the rest of the hunting patrol. Lionstreak immediately headed towards the nursery entrance where his mate Petalblossom was lounging with Willowfall and Brightwing, sharing tongues. The pretty tabby's stomach had grown larger over the past half moon and the silver she-cat grew more nervous with each passing day.

Icekit and Snowkit practiced battle moves a few tail lengths away while Mothkit watched, her tail-tip flicking back and forth eagerly as she prepared to intercept the battle.

The Greenleaf sun shone brightly in the sky and the heat waves were practically visible if you stared long and hard enough.

Hazepaw and Topazmist relaxed outside the medicine den sorting herbs while the elders rested in the shade of the holly bush. Shimmerlight and Bluecloud were sharing tongues with Amberstar below the high ledge, the protruding rock face provided the aging leader with plenty of shade through the harsh Greenleaf heat.

Swiftpaw slowly made his way over the fresh kill pile selecting three more pieces of prey for the many elders that he had to take care of on his own, at least for another moon until Icekit and Snowkit became apprentices. The heat was almost unbearable and Swiftpaw longed to head to the river and see Moonpaw. When the heat wave had hit, she had promised to teach him how to swim but at the time, fear of drowning had lead him to decline the offer but now the idea sounded almost pleasurable.

Groaning to himself, Swiftpaw headed over to the holly bush where Leopardlight, Rowanflight, Gorsefur, Silverstreak, Tansystalk and Frostflower were relaxing in the shade.

"Thank starclan someone is doing work around here, about time we got fed" Silverstreak yowled as Swiftpaw set the plump rabbit in front of her. Leopardlight rolled her eyes from her seat beside Tansystalk, the golden dappled elder shook her head amusedly.

"Cut Swiftpaw some slack, he is the only apprentice right now" she meowed, flicking Silverstreak with her tail tip. The silver and black queen rolled her eyes, tearing into the rabbit hungrily.

"We are short on kits this Greenleaf, Lionstreak and Petalblossom's kits will be eagerly awaited" Rowanflight noted as he plucked feathers from a young robin.

"I don't know what was going through that she-cats mind when she chose him" Silverstreak snorted, her fur bristling aggressively.

A sharp hiss from Frostflower quieted the black and silver streaked queen, the white elder opened her mouth to speak when sounds from outside the den interrupted her.

Swiftpaw raced out of the den to investigate, just barely catching Silverstreak's grumble about the son of Sunvine.

As Swiftpaw left the den he spotted his clanmates gathered around the highledge. Squirreltail stood in the middle, struggling to breath, her ginger fur was fluffed out and blood flowed from a wound above her eyes. Stoneshine nervously paced back and forth beside his mate as Topazmist gently applied a healing poultice.

Finally Squirreltail managed to speak "Shadowclan, they moved the border. Whitefog and I were there hunting and they ambushed us" her blue green eyes clouded with grief and she leaned against Stoneshine for support.

"They killed her, Ravenstar did, he told me to come back and deliver a message. He told me to say that they are moving the border to the edge of the forest"

Angry hisses sounded from their clanmates.

"The edge of the forest!"

"We need that territory, we need that prey"

"Foxhearts!"

"How dare they"

"Let's tear those flea-pelts apart" Shimmerlight yowled, sheathing and unsheathing her claws.

Amberstar quieted her clanmates down before speaking "I will organize a patrol to go out and fight them" the brown tabby leader meowed strongly as she turned to look at Topazmist seriously "You and Hazepaw had better prepare. I fear we will not make it out of this battle wound free"

Topazmist nodded solemnly, signaling with her tail for Hazepaw to follow her into the medicine den.

Amberstar turned to face her clanmates, thinking carefully before choosing her patrol "Shimmerlight, Birdstrike, Drizzlelight, Flowertail, Mossdapple and Swiftpaw will come with me"

"What about me" Lionstreak growled, kneading the ground with his paws "I want to fight too"

"You will stay behind with the rest of the clan and guard the camp, I wouldn't put it past Ravenstar to send a second patrol to attack the camp"

This seemed to quiet the eager tom as he paced back and forth from his place beside Petalblossom, the pretty tabby continually switch from flicking her tail nervously and licking her feather soft belly fur. Stoneshine helped Squirreltail into the medicine den while Bluecloud gathered Lichenfur and Skyshine to guard the camp entrance.

Swiftpaw sheathed and unsheathed his claws in anticipation, excitement coursing from his whiskers to his tail tip, he trotted over to the entrance positioning himself beside Drizzlelight and her brother Birdstrike as the patrol made their way out into the territory.

* * *

As the patrol got closer to the edge of the forest, near the clearing where Squirreltail said Shadowclan would be waiting. Swiftpaw wrinkled his nose in disgust as the harsh stench of Shadowclan his the roof of his mouth and as the patrol emerged into the clearing they were met with a line of Shadowclan warriors waiting for them. Five Shadowclan warriors sat in a line, smiles tugging at the corner of their mouths, their eyes glinting triumphantly. Ravenstar sat slightly a head of his five warriors, a limp white body beside him. _Whitefog!_

"What is the meaning of this Ravenstar" Amberstar hissed, her hackles raised as she stalked closer to the small black tom.

"It's quite simple really" Ravenstar stated calmly, his tail tip flicking back and forth "I want this territory, and I'm taking it. We have already moved the border to the edge of the forest so you may go now, back to your own territory"

Swiftpaw bristled, unsheathing his claws, "_how dare he tell Amberstar what to do, as if she were an apprentice" _Swiftpaw thought, a deep growl rumbling in his throat.

"You have already murdered one of my clanmates, and on the day of the full moon at that" Amberstar snarled "Now leave before I am forced to return the favor"

Ravenstar rolled his eyes, taking a step closer to Amberstar "Are you sure you want to do this, would it be wise to fight, to have an all out war on both of your borders?"

"We need this territory" Shimmerlight hissed "It is ours. Now leave" she stepped up to Ravenstar until she was almost touching noses with the small black leader, her white teeth glinted dangerously and her hackles were raised.

"If you insist on a fight, you will have one" Ravenstar meowed calmly.

"I insist" Amberstar hissed, unsheathing her claws.

An evil grin crept up Ravenstar's face, his eyes glinting as he unsheathed his claws "So be it. Shadowclan attack!". At the battle cry the Shadowclan warriors lunged forward in a flurry of tooth and claw.

Swiftpaw yowled in surprise as he was bowled over by a larger gray tom. Before he could react the larger tom had him pinned down, one paw on his throat the other was raised to deal a blow. Swiftpaw closed his eyes, struggling pointlessly to escape the tom's grasp, suddenly the toms weight was thrown off of him and as Swiftpaw scrambled to his paws he watched the flash of ginger and white as Flowertail chased the Shadowclan tom deep into Shadowclan territory.

Glancing around quickly he spotted Mossdapple struggling with a lithe black she-cat, the Shadowclan warrior was clawing at Mossdapple's back while the Thunderclan warrior struggled to shake her off, shaking her body back and forth. Swiftpaw raced over digging his claws into the black she-cat's back, yanking her off of Mossdapple.

The warrior spun around quickly striking with unsheathed claws, Swiftpaw suppressed a cry as he felt her claws connect with his cheek, hearing his fur and flesh tear.

Stunned from the blow, Swiftpaw loosened his grip on the Shadowclan warrior, she easily took the upper paw and launched herself forward, slamming her head into Swiftpaw's.

Dazed Swiftpaw fell backwards, scrambling to stay on his feet. Mossdapple shot forward, standing in front of Swiftpaw facing the black she-cat. She bolted straight at the enemy, easily slinking under her, raking thorn sharp claws across the she-cat's belly. The black she-cat stumbled backwards, tripping and yowling in pain as Mossdapple leapt on top of her, raking her claws down her shoulders and clamping her jaws down on the she-cat ear.

As Mossdapple loosened her grip the black she-cat bolted back into the pine forest, disappearing into the shadows.

Swiftpaw shakily stood to his paws panting, nodding at Mossdapple in thanks. The gray and white she-cat nodded back before rushing to help Flowertail fight a large white tom.

Drizzlelight and Birdstrike fought side by side against a dark ginger she-cat and Shimmerlight struggled with the deputy Eaglestripe, a very large cream and white tom.

Swiftpaw raced over to Shimmerlight, stepping up beside her as she struggled to push the tom back towards the original border. Shimmerlight slashed at the tom's face, inflicting more and more wounds with each strike while Swiftpaw lunged at the tom's paws, preventing him from fighting back.

Swiftpaw lunged forward barreling the tom backwards, at the same moment Shimmerlight launched forward, landing on top of the tom, she held him down with her forepaws growling menacingly "Get out of here, if you every cross this border again I will kill you" when she elt the tom up he raced off into the trees, casting a scornful glare back towards Shimmerlight.

A flash of white shot past Swiftpaw, nearly knocking him to the ground, the white tom Flowertail had been facing raced away, bloodstreaked and wounded and the ginger she-cat was close behind him.

Shimmerlight and Swiftpaw padded over to where their clanmates sat, watching Amberstar and Ravenstar locked in battle, neither cat intervened, this battle was between the leaders.

Amberstar struggled to shake Ravenstar off of her as the small black leader dug his claws into her back, Amberstar turned her head clamping her jaws down on his front paw. Yowling in pain Ravenstar loosened his grip and Amberstar was able to slink out from under him, spinning quickly to face him. The black tom lashed out with his uninjured forepaw, slashing it across Amberstar's eyes. Momentarily blinded, Amberstar stumbled backwards, shaking droplets of blood from her eyes.

The two leaders stood facing each other. Ravenstar breathed heavily, holding his injured paw in the air a steady stream of blood flowed from it, pooling int he grass. A long bleeding gash spread from his shoulder to his knee and one of his ears was torn in half. Amberstar stood strongly, blood seeping from a wound above her eyes, multiple gashes criss-crossed through her pelt.

"It's over Ravenstar" Amberstar meowed "Your warriors have been defeated, now get out of our territory"

Ravenstar opened his mouth to speak, looking around at the bristling Thunderclan warriors, "This isn't over, we will see each other again Amberstar, sooner than you may think". Without another word the small black leader limped towards the pine trees, disappearing into the shadows.

As soon as he was out of sight Amberstar collapsed, Shimmerlight raced over, helping her leader stand.

"Lets get you back to Topazmist" Shimmerlight murmured quietly, concern flooding her ice blue eyes.

Swiftpaw watched as his clanmates made their way back to camp, he glanced up at the darkening sky, streaked with hues of crimson and violet. The gathering would be starting soon.

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**I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and im gonna get right on the next one so you wont have to wait as long for the next update. Please leave a review on what you want to see happen, what you think will happen or what you like/hate.**

**Rainwind alias Dazzelspark: Thanks for reviewing.**

**Riley Dragon: I don't know ;) maybe she is. Thank you for reviewing im glad you enjoyed the chapter.**

**Mudsky: Thank you! Im so glad you enjoy my stories, its great to hear that someone out there really enjoys them. And thank you for encouraging me to write, I really appreciate it.**


	10. Chapter 9

**Hey again everyone, just wanted to say that I know I have a lot of typos through out this trilogy and I swear im trying to get it under control lol but it takes time, so I tried to get all of the ones in this story fixed first and then I will move on to the other two books. If you spot anything that I missed please let me know I would really appreciate it.**

**Also please leave me a review I really love seeing them. Anyhoo, here is the chapter.**

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The sky grew darker and darker as the Thunderclan patrol made their way back into the camp after the fight with Shadowclan. Hazepaw and Topazmist sat outside the medicine den, herbs and cobwebs at the ready as their clanmates approached them.

The medicine cats worked quickly, rubbing on poultices and applying cobwebs. Topazmist vanished into the medicine den, in search of poppy seeds to help the exhausted warriors sleep. Hazepaw meticulously chewed a pawfull of marigold before rubbing it gently into a gaping wound across Swiftpaw's shoulder.

Swiftpaw winced as the healing juices flowed into his wound, sending a tingling sensation down to his paw.

Topazmist worked quickly, wrapping the last of the bandages and disappearing into the back alcove to put the herbs away, in preparation to leave for the gathering.

Hazepaw finished applying the healing poltuice to his brother's wound when Swiftpaw whispered quietly to him.

"Can you let Moonpaw know I will meet her tomorrow?"

Hazepaw nodded in agreement, wordlessly standing up.

"She is going to teach me how to swim" Swiftpaw meowed excitedly.

Hazepaw nodded again, not sure if his brother expected him to be excited as well, the friendship between the two cats violated the warrior code in so many ways. If any of their clanmates found out then it would be disastrous.

Hazepaw glances sideways, spotting his father Bluecloud quietly sharing tongues with Shimmerlight near the medicine den entrance, as he met his father's blue eyes Hazepaw looked away quickly.

"You need to be more careful" he hissed through gritted teeth "You know how Bluecloud feels about the warrior code, and how he feels about those who break it"

"Yeah yeah" Swiftpaw rolled his eyes, flicking his tail dismissively "I'll be fine" looking up a smile crept across his face as Topazmist padded out the camp entrance.

"AH, don't you have to go with her?" Swiftpaw meowed amusedly.

"What!" Hazepaw exclaimed, his fur fluffing out as he followed Swiftpaw's gaze.

"The gathering, remember?" Swiftpaw offered as his brother groaned.

"Oh starclan" Hazepaw groaned "I got go, I'll see you later" he called as he raced out of the camp and after his mentor.

Swiftpaw smirked, standing up carefully so as not to tear his wrappings, watching his brother's blue pelt disappear into the darkness.

* * *

Hazepaw sat anxiously next to Topazmist beside the great rock, underneath the holly bush, with the Windclan medicine cat Ravenflight and the Shadowclan medicine cats Mallowbelly and Finchpaw. The gatherings with Riverclan always made him nervous, feeling vulnerable without the security of his clanmates around him.

Movement caught his attention and Hazepaw turned to see the Riverclan warriors moving steadily into fourtrees. The sight of Reedstar nearly made Hazepaw cringe, the large dark gray tom had a hard set frown on his face and his bright yellow eyes were hard and cold.

Hazepaw let out his breath, unaware that he was holding it in the first place, when he spotted Nightswallow heading towards the holly bush, Moonpaw following more slowly behind her.

Hazepaw glanced at his mentor to see that she was either in deep in converstation, or an argument with Mallowbelly. Spotting his chance the small blue apprentice trotted away, heading behind a bush. A heartbeat later he was joined by Moonpaw.

The small she-cat's green eyes were glowing brightly in the light of the full moon and her white and gray patched pelt was bathed silver in the moonlight.

"Hello Hazepaw" the she-cat greeted politely, curling her tail tip daintily around her front paws as she sat facing him.

Hazepaw dipped his head in greeting to her, still unsure of how his brother could be completely comfortable in Moonpaw's presence "Swiftpaw wanted me to tell you that he wants to learn to swim" as he spoke the words left a sour taste in his mouth, Thunderclan warriors don't swim. They just don't. This she-cat, and Swiftpaw's love for her, is changing him.

_"And I don't know how I feel about that" _as the thought passed through his mind, an empty feeling crept through him.

Moonpaw's eyes grew brighter at the news "I told him he should let me teach him" she purred amusedly "It has been so hot out this Greenleaf, he is going to love it"

Hazepaw gave a forced smile "I'm sure"

Suddenly a pale cream colored she-cat with soft amber eyes appeared, before she spoke she glanced at Hazepaw then turned back to Moonpaw.

"Moonpaw, the gathering is about to start. And you know Reedstar likes to keep you in sight"

Moonpaw rolled her eyes, letting loose a deep sigh "Yeah yeah Swirlspots, I know" the sleek apprentice stood up, looking back at Hazepaw "Let Swiftpaw know ill meet him tomorrow at sunset for his first swimming lesson" before Hazepaw could respond she vanished.

Hazepaw met Swirlspots' amber eyes with his own, watching her suspiciously until she spoke.

"I know all about them" she meowed, giving her chest fur a few confident licks "I think they both have bees in their brains, but if it makes Moonpaw happy then I wont do anything to come between them"

Before Hazepaw could respond, the call for the gathering sounded. Swirlspots gave him a curt nod, trotting away and returning to her clanmates. Hazepaw moved back beside his mentor, to hear the news of the other clans.

Rabbitstar stepped up to speak first "Windclan is thriving, with the heat comes slower and fatter rabbits for us to eat and we have recently made two new warriors Darkwind and Shallowleap" he glanced around nervously, his wiry brown fur standing on end "Emeraldsky has given birth to two healthy she-kits, they have been named Rosekit and Dapplekit"

The wiry brown tom stepped back to allow Ravenstar to speak.

"Shadowclan is doing well Rainswallow, Leafpetal and Dawnstreak have all had healthy litters of kits" the small black leader stepped back, not relinquishing any more detail to his clan's current state.

"Three more litters of kits" Ravenflight meowed thoughtfully a tail-length behind Hazepaw "I've lost count, how many nursing queens is that?"

"Nine, if I remember correctly" Nightswallow murmured "And I remember those she-cat's" she turned to look Mallowbelly in the eyes "Weren't they all just made warriors at the last gathering?"

The white she-cat stiffened as attention was directed to her before meowing carefully "Many she-cats join the nursery soon after their apprenticeship. It is not uncommon" standing up and disappearing into the throng of cats, as to avoid anymore uncomfortable questions.

Reedstar moved to the front of the great rock to speak, his yellow eyes glinting in the darkness "Riverclan thrives, the fish are fat and the streams are cool. Shadefoot has given birth to two kits Ivykit and Perchkit, we also have a new apprentice, Leafpaw."

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Moonpaw trudged slowly back towards Riverclan territory, trying to hold back the yawn that was threatening to creep out. Nightswallow watched her apprentice carefully as the Riverclan cats reached their camp the exhausted warriors made their way to their den while Reedstar pulled the medicine cats aside.

"I saw you speaking with the Thunderclan medicine cats" the gray tom noted, his voice cold and harsh.

Moonpaw flinched under her father's dark stare while Nightswallow stood straighter "Of course we did, medicine cats always converse about healing techniques and such things, why do you seem so surprised?"

A growl rumbled deep in Reedstar's chest before he spoke through gritted teeth "On my daily patrols to the border by sunningrocks I have been scenting Thunderclan, closer to the border than ever before. They could be planning an attack"

Nightswallow scoffed loudly "I highly doubt that, Amberstar has never been anything but indifferent to this squabble"

"Squabble?" Reedstar roared, waking his clanmates "She killed my daughter"

"She did nothing of the sort, your daughter was killed in battle, and it was many moons ago" Nightswallow took a deep breath, lowing her voice in an attempt to reason with her leader "It is time to forgive, let our warriors rest and go on in peace, Mothpetal would never want this."

Reedstar turned to Moonpaw, ignoring Nightswallow's pleas "How many warriors do they have? Come on tell me, I know that apprentice must have told you something"

Moonpaw looked down at the ground, quivering "T-They just made three new warriors, Flowertail, Mossdapple and Lichenfur"

"Three!" Reedsgtar bellowed. Without waiting a heartbeat for a response Reedstar leapt to the highrock, yowling to call a clan meeting. Warriors trudged sleepily out of their den, apprentices stumbling around, barely able to open their eyes. The two queens sat outside the nursery, trying to rally in their kits, excited to be awoken from a deep sleep.

"It has come to my attention that Thunderclan has made three new warriors, this is an obvious sign and an oncoming ambush!"

"This again?" a small white tom whispered to the ginger and white she-cat beside him "Thunderclan has never set paw across the border since this began"

"Shush Galeforce" the ginger and white she-cat hissed "Don't let Reedstar hear you speaking like that"

Reedstar paced back and forth from his place above his clanmates "We will match them, warrior for warrior, apprentices come forward"

Foampaw, Lightpaw and Driftpaw stumbled forward in shock.

"Wait" a ginger tom spoke up "These apprentices are not ready, only Foampaw and Lightpaw have taken their final assessment. Driftpaw is two moon younger than them" as he spoke he glanced at the smaller black she-cat "She is hardly ready to be made a full warrior"

Reedstar lashed out, striking the ginger tom in the face "Do you question me?" he snarled "We must not be weaker than Thunderclan, they will be made warriors. Foampaw you shall be known as Foamsplash, Lightpaw you shall be known as Lightbounce and Driftpaw you will be named Driftflight"

The three apprentices nodded quickly, afraid to speak as their leader directed his attention elsewhere.

"Moonpaw, i'm sure you would be sad to see your denmates leave you. I will make you a full medicine cat as well"

Shock flooded through the Riverclan cats as Nightswallow stepped forward "You can't do this, she has only been training as a medicine cat for a moon"

Reedstar growled "She is as old as Driftflight"

"SHe spent her first two moons as an apprentice training as a warrior, she has not learned everything she needs to in order to become a full medicine cat" Nightswallow argued.

Moonpaw opened her mouth to speak, but was silenced by her father's sharp glare.

"And I expect that she will learn it all in good time, Thunderclan will soon have two medicine cats, so we shall have two first. Moonpaw you shall be known at Moonstream"

As the shock began to dissipate, anger and fear welled in the hearts of the Riverclan warriors. None of them spoke, they simply stared at their leader, with the cold yellow eyes.

A rustling in the reeds catches the dark leader's attention, before he turns to look a harsh scent washes over him, smelling of crowfood, twolegplace and worst of all Thunderclan.

As the intruder stepped into the moonlight, his sandy gray striped pelt was bathed in the moonlight, his yellow eyes glinting in the darkness.

"I wish to join you Reedsstar" the tom meowed, dipping his head in respect to the leader.

Reedstar leapt down from his perch to face the tom, her bared his teeth and unsheathed his claws "And you are?"

The striped tom narrowed his eyes, a cruel smiling playing his lips "My name is Sunvine"

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**AnonymousReader (horsetail): Thank you so much for your review, it was exciting to see such a long one! First off I would like to thank you for taking the time to read my story and point out my mistakes. I appreciate when someone does that since I don't have anyone to proofread my stuff before I post it. Yes I do type my chapters in a word document but for the past couple chapters I was just typing them on fanfiction because my word wasn't working, but now i'm back to word! Punctuation has always been the vain of my existence when it comes to writing, I try to put things in the right place, as to the best of my knowledge. I'm so happy that you think that my stories are very well written and remind you of or dear Erin Hunter's work. That compliment really means the world to me. As of right now, this series will end with this book and I don't really have any more ideas to start a new story but I would love to write a new book or maybe even a new story if an idea pops into my head. So as of right now, there is no future works in progress, but there is a possibility that I may come up with something else. Anyways thank you for your review and support and hopefully I will see you again.**

**Shadestream: As you can see the next chapter is up! Hopefully it wont be such a long wait between chapters, I've been working a lot lately and sometimes I find it difficult to just get going in the next chapter. Thank you for your reviews, I appreciate them. Oh and yes, Swiftpaw and Moonstream would be breaking the warrior code twice, but do remember that it was never Moonstream's wish to be a medicine cat, her father Reedstar forced her to become one, so maybe she wont be one forever!**


	11. Chapter 10

**Hey all, here is the next chapter, finally things are moving along and getting to where they need to be! I didn't really get a great response from the last chapter, as I expected to and that was kind of a disappointment because clearly more people read it than just the one that reviewed, but thank you to Nova Lioness for your review, I really appreciate your loyalty to my stories. Hopefully you guys can find it in your hearts to give me a review after this chapter, I would really like to know what you all think. So please take the time to leave me a review so I can know what you think, I would really appreciate it.**

**Anyhoo, here is the chapter, enjoy!**

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Swiftpaw paddled strongly through the river near the training hollow, relishing in the feeling of his damp fur in the heat of Greenleaf. He ducked his head, diving down under the surface of the water, closing his eyes, enjoying the feel of the water propelling past his face and his whiskers. Swiftpaw pushed up from the bottom of the stream, breaking the surface of the cool stream with a loud gasp as he filled his lungs with fresh crisp air.

Strongly, the blue tom paddled his way to the shore, he pulled himself up onto the bank giving himself a big shake, sending water droplets flying from his sleek pelt.

Swiftpaw let out a deep sigh of contentment, laying down and stretching out, letting the mid-day sun warm and dry his pelt, the memory of the day he learned to swim playing in his mind.

_"I don't know why I was so afraid to learn how to swim" _he thought to himself as he meticulously raped his tongue over his short fur.

The day after the gathering had been particularly hot and Swiftpaw eagerly began his swimming lessons, by the next day he was a master,

_"Are you sure you weren't born in Riverclan" Moonpaw teased, shaking water droplets from her sleek pelt._

_Swiftpaw climbed out of the river, his pelt sopping wet and his whiskers drooping from the weight of the water droplets "I'm sure" he began to shake the water from his pelt, aiming as many drops as possible at Moonpaw "You're just a great mentor"._

_The white and gray patched she-cat shrieked playfully and jumped away, trying to avoid the water, her green eyes glowing._

_Swiftpaw stepped closer to her, burshing muzzles, causing her to purr contently. Then suddenly he pushed forward, knocking her into the chilly depths of the river. When she didn't resurface immediately, cursing like she would usually have done, Swiftpaw grew worried. He crept toward the edge of the river, staring down, scanning the blue water for any sign of her. A dark mass moved upwards from the depths, before Swiftpaw could react he felt himself plummeting into the water._

_He splashed frantically, spluttering and coughing up water, only to see Moonpaw strongly swimming circles around him, purring in amusement._

_"Im gonna get you" Swiftpaw yowled, swimming after her._

Swiftpaw purred to himself, standing up and stretching, his fur was nearly dry, dry enough that he could go in search of the rest of his hunting patrol without looking suspicious. He trotted over to some freshly covered prey, pulling out a limp squirrel and three plump mice. Just enough prey to explain his long absence.

Lifting the prey in his jaws he trotted through the forest heading toward the sandy hollow where he left Flowertail. He was simply indifferent to the fact that she was on his hunting patrol, but that quickly changed to annoyance when he found out that they were the only two cats on the hunting patrol.

The more he pushed her away, the more desperate her affections became.

Shaking his head in annoyance he charged forward until the clearing came into view, the soft sand felt good beneath his paws and he dropped the prey on the ground, laying down and tucking his paws under his chest and waited.

A shrill yowl caught his attention and Swiftpaw leapt to his paws, flicking his ears trying to figure out where the sound was coming from. The shriek sounded again and he charged towards it without thinking.

Branches whipped his face and thorns clawed at Swiftpaw's pelt as he raced in the direction of the cries for help. As he stumbled upon the sight he skidded to a halt.

A few tail lengths in front of him was Flowertail, caught in a metal twoleg contraption. The jaws of the contraption were clamped around her forepaw and blood seeped from the wound caused by the jagged shiny teeth that were stuck in her leg as the she-cat struggled to pull her leg free.

Staggering out of the bushes barely a tail length from where Flowertail struggled came a fox. Swiftpaw felt a horiible feeling creep through his bones, he had never seen a fox before, had never smelled their retched scent. The fox seemed as though it couldn't stand properly and when Swiftpaw searched for the reason why, he caught the glare of another of the same metal contraptions Flowertail was stuck in, clamped around one of the fox's legs as well.

The young fox was skinny, and its eyes were glazed over, but it moved towards Flowertail with a deep desire of hunger. Flowertail yowled for help and Swiftpaw moved.

Without thinking he slammed his body into the fox's, knocking the injured creature off its paws. The fox let out a strangled yelp as it attempted to get back on its feet, before it could manage to, Swiftpaw lunged forward nipping at the fox and slashing his claws into it's pelt. He hissed and spat and moved forward as the fox rolled on the ground, getting further and further from Flowertail.

The fox scrambled to its paws, yelping as Swiftpaw clamped his jaws around one if its hindlegs. As Swiftpaw let go the fox limped away, leaving behind a trail of blood.

Switpaw raced over to Flowertail's side and when he reached her he began to inspect the shiny twoleg contraption.

He gently reached out and touched the silver spikes, cool to the touch, and Flowertail hissed through gritted teeth as pain shot through her leg.

"It needs to be pried open with something" Flowertail hissed, her eyes closed to slits in pain "Maybe a stick or something like that"

Swiftpaw nodded vanishing into the bushes, reemerging with a thin brown twig in his jaws. He sat down next to Flowertail, sliding the stick down along the ginger and white she-cat's leg and into the contraption, turning his head to add leverage the blue tom pulled down, managing to separate the contraption's pointy jaws wide enough for Flowertail to slide her leg out.

As soon as the she-cat's leg was free, Swiftpaw dropped the stick and the jaws clamped shut again with a loud _snap_, splitting the twig in two.

Swiftpaw jumped back at the loud sound and Flowertail crumbled to the ground in a mixture of pain and exhaustion.

"T-thanks" Flowertail struggled to get out, she dropped her head and gave her bleeding paw a few tentative licks.

Swiftpaw stepped up beside her, nosing her paw gently "We should get you back to camp, Topazmist needs to take a look at that"

Flowertail nodded, leaning against him for support as the two Thunderclan cats made their way back to camp.

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The two cats pushed their way through the Thunderclan entrance, heading straight for the medicine den, moving passed concerned and curious clanmates in search of Topazmist.

The comforting and sharp scent of herbs engulfed them as Swiftpaw helped Flowertail into the medicine den.

Topazmist scurried over to them, helping lead Flowertail to one of the mossy nests, Swiftpaw helped her to lay down and moved out of the way so Topazmist could assess the damage.

The ginger medicine cat prodded Flowertail's paw gently with her own, feeling how it moved both forward and backward and side to side. Flowertail winced in pain but managed to keep any cries silent.

"Well it isn't broken" Topazmist concluded "Just strained, ill give you some alder for the swelling and some poppy to help you sleep" the ginger she-cat vanished into her herb store and Swfitpaw trotted out of the den to give the she-cat some spacing, colliding face first into Hazepaw.

"What are you doing here?" Hazepaw asked, looking past Swiftpaw and into the medicine den.

Swiftpaw shrugged "Flowertail got hurt while we were hunting, her paw got caught in a weird twoleg contraption and I helped her back to camp"

Hazepaw smirked "You were hunting together? Alone?"

Swiftpaw rolled his eyes "We split up to catch more prey...oh foxdung! I left the prey out there" he pushed past his brother "I got to go"

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join her beneath the highledge for a clan meeting" Amberstar's voice rang clear and strong throughout the camp and Swiftpaw cursed under his breath.

"Aw great Starclan, what now? I have to go get that prey" he mumbled as he trotted out to where his clanmates were gathering.

Amberstar stood at the stop of the highledge, Shimmerlight sat below it right beside the leaders den.

"We have all been hearing the whisperings about how Swiftpaw bravely fought off a fox while Flowertail was incapable of defending herself, trapped in a twoleg contraption. After a conference with the senior warriors we have decided that he is ready for his warriors ceremony"

Hazepaw nudged Swiftpaw with his shoulder and Swiftpaw stumbled forward, awestruck with a mix of shock and humility at having the entire clan's attention on him. Most apprentices did not become warriors until after training for six moons, and they always had to pass a final assessment. Swiftpaw hadn't even had his mid-training assessment yet, as he had just reached his fourth moon of training.

Amberstar beckoned him forward with her tail and Swiftpaw slowly made his way to his place directly in front of the brown tabby leader.

"Lionclaw, do you believe that despite your apprentice's age and inexperieince that he has proven himself to be a loyal and hardworking warrior?"

Lionclaw stepped forward, his sleek golden pelt gleaming in the sunlight and his ice blue eyes shining with pride "I do"

"I Amberstar, leader of Thunderclan call upon my warriors ancestors to look down upon this apprentice, he has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn"

She turned her gaze from the sky to Swiftpaw "Swiftpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this clan even at the cost of your life?"

"I do"

"Then by the powers of Starclan I give you your warrior name, Swiftpaw from this moment on you will be known as Swiftbreeze. Starclan honors your loyalty and your knowledge of wrong and right"

Swiftbreeze shifted uncomfortably under his leader's gaze.

"And we welcome you as a full warrior of Thunderclan" Amberstar concluded the ceremony by placing her head on top of Swiftbreeze's and he licked her shoulder respectively.

"Swiftbreeze" "Swiftbreeze"

As his clanmates cheered his new name, Swiftbreeze couldn't help think about Moonpaw and the vow he had just made.

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**Nova Lioness: yes, Sunvine is back to cause trouble again, muhaha**

**-Tigerflower08**


	12. Chapter 11

**Hey all, so here is the next chapter. **

**So I was pretty disappointed at the lack of responses for the last two chapters, I really expected more from you guys. Hopefully you will like this chapter and get back to reviewing.**

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Swiftbreeze flicked his tail back in forth in an attempt to distract himself from the foggy cloud of sleep the was threatening to over take him during his warriors vigil. He was positioned right at the camp entrance and, laying down with his forepaws tucked beneath his chest. He stared ahead into the darkness, guarding the camp, the moon bathing his blue pelt is a coat of silver.

Rustling out on the darkness caught his attention and Swiftbreeze flicked his ears in the direction of the sound, narrowing his eyes as the rustling continued. He glanced around the camp, everyone else was in their dens and would stay in their dens until sunhigh. He stood to his paws, flicking his tail nervously, unsure weather to investigate the noise himself or to call the alarm.

Taking a deep breath he took a step forward.

_"I'm a warrior now" _he thought, gulping before trotting out into the darkness _"This is my clan, and I will protect it"_

Unsheathing his claws, a deep growl rumbling in his chest, the rustling grew louder and the distinct sound of pawsteps grew closer.

Without a moments hesitation Swiftbreeze launched himself into the bush, crashing roughly into something solid. Swiftbreeze scrambled to his paws, cursing as he was struck in the head, falling to the ground again.

Looking up, his blue eyes met amber, and he let out a shaky sigh of relief as the familiar scent washed over him.

"Swirlspots" Swiftbreeze greeted, shakily standing to his paws.

"Mousebrain" Swirlspots cursed, cuffing him across the ear again with her white forepaw "How dumb are you Swiftpaw? Jumping at me in the dark like that, I could have killed you" the pale cream queen scolded.

Swiftbreeze rolled his eyes "Yeah yeah Swirlspots. And the name is Swift_breeze _now" his voice was harsher than he had intended but he attributed it to the rough beating the she-cat had delivered to him only moments ago.

"Congratulations" Swirlspots meowed, curling her tail over her paws "I don't have much time, Moonstream sent me to tell you that you need to meet her tomorrow at fourtrees"

"Moonstream? Fourtrees?" Swiftbreeze meowed "Whats going on? Is she in trouble?" his blue gray pelt fluffed up as worry sparked through his body.

Swirlspots shook her head "Reedstar promoted all of the apprentices, Moonstream included"

"Can he do that?" Swiftbreeze asked warily.

Swirlspots bared her teeth "Aparently he can do whatever he wants" suddenly she composed herself "I shouldn't speak ill of him" she paused thoughtfully "But he hasn't been the same since Mothpetal's death, growing restless and seeking more solitude as time passes"

"When he made the warriors, he forgo the sacred words, he has been doing that for the past few moons. Galeforce and Splashtail didn't receive them and neither did my kits Goldenpaw and Honeypaw"

Swiftbreeze flicked his ears "Why do we need to meet at fourtrees?"

"There is lots of news to be discussed, I'll be coming too. It would be best if we don't draw too much attention to the border, Reedstar has been picking up on your scent"

"Alright, I'll be there at sunset" dipping his head, stepping back "Safe travels"

The cream and white she-cat dipped her head, before turning and disappearing into the darkness.

Swiftbreeze made his way cautiously back to the camp entrance, sending his prayers to Starclan that no one was awake. Suddenly he sensed a presence beside him. He quickly tried to think up an excuse as the white she-cat spoke.

"Hello Swiftbreeze" Moony, now known as Moonypaw, meowed. Although the she-cat was almost as old as Shimmerlight, Amberstar had made her an apprentice until she learned the ways of the clan. She was welcomed in the apprentice den by Icepaw and Snowpaw, who were the only two manageing all of the apprentice duties.

Swiftbreeze paused for a moment before speaking, unsure what to do since his silent warrior vigil would not be over until the sunrise.

"It's ok" Moonypaw meowed, her blue eyes glinting mischeviously "I wont tell"

"My legs were cramping, I had to stretch them" Swiftbreeze lied coolly, looking at the ground.

Moonypaw rolled her blue eyes at him, flicking his shoulder with her tail-tip as the clanmates stopped just outside the camp entrance "And im sure that Riverclan she-cat in our territory was just a coincidence"

Swiftbreeze froze "You scented her?"

"I heard the two of you, as I made my way back to camp"

Swiftbreeze bristled, fear coursing through his pelt, this was the closest he had ever come to his affair with Moonstream being discovered. He had no excuses prepared, no reason to use to convince the white she-cat that what she had heard was false.

"I don't know much about the ways of the clans, but from what I can gather I can conclude that whatever you feel for this Riverclan she-cat, Moonstream was her name?"

Swiftbreeze nodded guiltly, completely at the mercy of Thunderclan's newest apprentice.

"Yes, well from what I can gather there are those who would not approve of your relationship with her, even those that would hate you for it, yes?" Moonypaw murmured.

Swiftbreeze nodded again, whispering "Friendships outside of your own clan are frowned upon, however choosing a mate from another clan is strictly forbidden" suddenly he lifted his head, meeting her blue eyes with his own "Go ahead, tell Amberstar, tell the whole clan for all I care. I love Moonstream, and I'm not going to stop seeing her, she changes nothing, I'm still a loyal warrior"

Moonypaw's whiskers twitched amusedly "Oh I have no doubts about that, I won't be repeating anything I heard tonight. I believe that if Starclan truly exists, they would want you to be happy, and if this she-cat makes you happy, then who am I to tell you how to live your life."

A smile tugged at Swiftbreeze's lips and a warm feeling spread through his fur "Thank you Moonypaw, thank you so much"

Moonypaw smiled, laying her tail-tip on his shoulder "I can only hope that wherever my daughter is, she may find true love, and follow her heart as well"

Together the two Thunderclan cats padded through the camp entrance, the sun had just begun to peak above the horizon, casting the morning rays through the tree tops, bathing the camp in a warm golden light. Swiftbreeze quickly moved back to his position for his vigil, laying down and tucking his paws beneath his chest, just as Shimmerlight trotted out of the warriors den.

Swiftbreeze leapt to his paws as his mother moved towards him, pushing past their early rising clanmates, excitement coursed through his pelt as he eagerly awaited his first duty as a warrior.

He kneaded the ground impatiently, it felt like moons had gone by before Shimmerlight was standing before him, he ginger pelt lit up like a flame and her ice blue eyes glowing with pride.

"I see you made it through your vigil" she meowed "Its alright, you can talk now"

Swiftbreeze let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding, his tail tip quivering with excitement "I'm ready"

Shimmerlight tilted her head curiously "Ready for what?"

"For my first warrior duty of course" Swiftbreeze exclaimed, as if the idea was obvious and she was the one acting strange.

Shimmerlight shook her head amusedly "Oh no, first things first, your going to sleep"

Swiftbreeze's tail drooped sadly, "But its dawn"

"And you have been awake all night" Shimmerlight countered, she laid her tail on his shoulder "I will find something for you to do once you rest up, its time to act right. You're a warrior now, its time to be responsible, you will be leading your own patrols, going on solo missions and someday training your own apprentice"

Swiftbreeze rolled his eyes as his deputy, and his mother, lectured him "Okay, okay, im going" he flicked her with his tail, trotting to the warriors den. As he pushed his way into the den, a sudden feeling of exhaustion over took him. He quickly settled in a nest in the outside of the ring of nests in the den, curling his tail over his nose, his eyes drooping heavily with sleep.

* * *

_Swiftbreeze opened his eyes to find himself standing alone in a dark forest. Looking around he recognized the place as fourtrees, but the scene around him sent shivers through his pelt. A thick layer of fog rolled through the underbrush and billowed off of the great rock like a smoky waterfall._

_He warily stepped forward, feeling the need to look around the great rock. Something was drawing him there, but not a scent nor sound was present. An eerie feeling crept through his pelt as he slowly made his way to the great rock, the fog closed in around him, glancing behind him Swiftbreeze couldn't see the edge of fourtrees anymore. He was slowly being closed in by the thick fog._

_He was now standing beside the great rock, he couldn't quite see what was on the other side and he shakily let out a deep breath, urging himself to look. Sending a silent prayer to Starclan and taking in a deep breath Swiftbreeze forced himself to take another step forward, frozen in shock as his pale blue eyes focused on the sight before him._

_Laying down, a foxlength in front of him, on a small patch of grass untouched by the menacing fog, was a pale faceless she-cat. She looked directly at Swiftbreeze with her blank face, sending shivers of uneasiness through Swiftbreeze's pelt._

_The she-cat stared blankly ahead as movement caught Swiftbreeze's attention, looking down at the she-cat's belly three blue-gray faceless kits squirmed._

_Swiftbreeze's breath hitched in his throat and he took an uneasy step forward, still feeling drawn to the pale faceless family._

_Suddenly brown dried up vines sprouted from the ground, slinking their way over the pale she-cat's body, slowly engulfing her to the point where she vanished completely, leaving the small faceless kits squirming on the ground, in search of their mother's warmth._

_Swiftbreeze felt his heart lurch as the she-cat vanished._

_ More vines surged forward wrapping around the tiny kits' bodies and curling around them until the kits vanished beneath the spiny tendrils._

_"No!" Swiftbreeze yowled, rushing towards the kits, the need to protect them surged through his pelt, fueling his rage._

_The vines sprung forward, spiraling their way up Swiftbreeze's legs holding him in places as they moved over his body, tightening around his chest and digging into his ears. His vision grew blurry as he struggled to breathe and it all went black, the green tendrils wrapping around his face dragging him into unconsciousness._

* * *

_Review Responses._

**Rebel Islander: It was nice to see your reviews once again, I greatly missed them. I hope to see more, enjoy the story.**


	13. Chapter 12

**Hey all, so I've realized it has been a long while since my last update and chapters are being uploaded pretty infrequently! I feel terrible but I've been struggling to continue the story due to lack of inspiration and determination. I have everything planned out but I just couldn't get myself to sit down and type it up. I'm sorry for the infrequency and im sure it has been costing me many viewers.**

**But I found my inspiration to write again while at work while I was reading the new warriors super edition Tallstar's revenge!**

**I want to apologize for making you all wait so long for this chapter and I hope that I can earn you all back with this story because I am considering writing another one, when this story is done. Which would turn this trilogy into a series!**

**I cant quite figure out what I want to be the main focus of the story so im going to have you guys vote on it. So please leave me a review at the end of this chapter telling me what you would like to see!**

First Idea: Focus on one of Moonstream and Swiftbreeze's kits. Cats begin disappearing from all the clans and have some cats band together to go out in search of them and bring them home.

Second Idea: Focus on one of Moonstream and Swiftbreeze's kits. Have a terrible sickness come and cats from each clan have to go on an adventure to find the cure which could possibly lead them to the tribe from the first book.

Third Idea: Focuses back and forth between one of Moonstream and Swiftbreeze's kits but also a cat from Shadowclan. Have Shadowclan start something. I'm not quite sure where to go with this idea but I feel like I keep leading on to something terrible happening in Shadowclan but I keep going away from it.

**If any of you want to help give me more ideas or want to see another story from me then please leave a review at the end of this chapter with your choice of idea, or anything else that you would like to say to me.**

**Thanks, now onto the story!**

**-Tigerflower08**

A harsh prod to the side yanked Swiftbreeze from his nightmare, and he awoke staring into pale green eyes. Flowertail looked down at him, worry swimming in her eyes.

"Are you okay?" Flowertail meowed "You were thrashing in your sleep"

Swiftbreeze took a moment to catch his breath, his heart raced in his chest and pounded loudly in his ears. He shakily stood to his paws, images of the faceless queen and the pale crying kits flashed through his mind, spots appeared before his vision and a wave of nausea overwhelmed him.

"I-I think I need to go to the medicine den" he croaked, his legs giving out. Flowertail quickly propped him up against her shoulder and helped guide him to the medicine den.

The two Thunderclan warriors pushed their way into the den and Swiftbreeze stepped away from Flowertail when Topazmist and Hazepaw looked up at them suspiciously.

"Thank you" Switbreeze meowed quietly "But ive got it from here"

Flowertail nodded, looking worriedly between Swiftbreeze and the medicine cats before disappearing out of the medicine den.

"What's wrong Swiftbreeze?" Topazmist meowed, taking a step towards the blue warrior.

"If its okay, can I talk to Hazepaw?" Swiftbreeze asked, looking down at the ground nervously.

"Well I suppose I could go check on Petalblossom" Topazmist murmured absentmindedly "She has been showing signs that her kits may come today" the ginger medicine cat trotted out of the den, leaving the two brothers alone.

"What is it Swiftbreeze?" Hazepaw meowed, turning around to continue sorting herbs "If your here to talk about Moonpaw, I'm sure you can see that I'm busy" the blue apprentice attempted to hide the venom in his voice.

"No, this isn't about her" Swiftbreeze whispered "I had a dream, it really shook me up. I think it might have come from Starclan"

At his brother's words, Hazepaw turned to face him, a look of seriousness crossing his face "Tell me what happened"

Swiftbreeze sat down, curling his tail over his front paws "Everything started out dark and foggy, I was in fourtrees"

Hazepaw felt a sense of uneasiness overcome him as his brother recounted what happened in his dream. Something, some detail about the dream struck him with a sense of familiarity. He struggled, trying to remember what it could be and found it to be as difficult as trying to recount some detail from a nursery tale.

Pained cries from the nursery distracted Hazepaw for a moment.

_"Petalblossom must be having Lionstreak's kits" _he thought, staring ahead _"Lionstreak, the kits of Sunvine. Sunvine" _That was it, the dream was a warning about Sunvine.

Hazepaw shivered, thinking about his own dreams that had been plaguing his mind for the past few sunrises. Dreams of darkness and bloodshed, dreams of his clanmates being strangled to death by vines.

"It's a warning" Hazepaw choked out "About Sunvine."

"But what does it mean?" Swiftbreeze spat, kneading the ground with her paws while his blue eyes flashed anxiously.

"I don't know" Hazepaw snapped, he took a deep breath to calm himself before speaking again, more quietly this time "When Topazmist and I go to the moonstone for the half-moon ceremony I will consult with Starclan."

"That's not soon enough" Swiftbreeze growled more to himself than to Hazepaw. Standing up abruptly, the blue warrior pushed past the medicine cat "I have to go."

"Where are you going?" Hazepaw demanded suspiciously.

"To see if I'm needed on any patrols of course" he growled "I'm a warrior now, it's time to act right."

Hazepaw watched his brother leave the den, the uneasy feeling from before returning.

* * *

Swiftbreeze sat beside Squirreltail staring across the border into Riverclan's territory.

Shimmerlight had added Swiftbreeze to the days fighting patrol alongside Squirreltail, Whitefog, Skyshine and Bluecloud. The two toms sat together watching the other side of the border carefully while Whitefog laid down basking in the sun.

Swiftbreeze could barely contain his boredom as the senior warriors quietly chatted, he let out a long loud groan.

Bluecloud shot him a disapproving glare "Do you have something better to do?" he asked skeptically.

Swiftbreeze snorted taking a few steps forward until the cool river water lapped at his paws. Behind him he could hear his father groan in defeat.

"I swear" Bluecloud whispered to Whitefog "It's like I don't even know him anymore"

Whitefog snorted, flicking Bluecloud with her tail "It happens to all of us" she teased "They have to grow up sometime, and when they do they think they know everything."

Squirreltail purred in agreement "My three were practically unbearable to be around when they were around his age"

"Wait until they start having kits of their own" Whitefog exclaimed, flicking her tail towards Skyshine "It's like you never successfully raised kits of your own, they know what's best."

The gray and white tom squirmed uncomfortably as the attention of his clanmates was directed at him.

"I don't know how your kits were, but Mothkit is already a pawfull" Skyshine purred, his amber eyes glowing fondly.

Whitefog nodded "It comes from being a single kit, she doesn't have any littermates to take out her energy on."

"Lionstreak's kits are in for a surprise when they meet her" Bluecloud purred.

Another long groan of boredom from Swiftbreeze and Bluecloud flicked his ears in annoyance, glancing at the sky. It was nearing sunset and the fighting patrol would be leaving soon.

"Why don't you head back to camp if this is too boring for you Swiftbreeze" Bluecloud snorted "I'm sure we will be fine without you for the rest of the patrol."

Swiftbreeze leapt to his paws, trotting away from his clanmates.

"Why don't you try to catch some prey on your way back to camp" Squirreltail called after him and Swiftbreeze flicked his tail in response.

* * *

Swiftbreeze made his way through Thunderclan's territory, walking the well worn paths his ancestors had carved moons ago as they too had made their way to fourtrees.

The air grew cooler as the sun disappeared behind the trees and the wind picked up, rustling the leaves.

He looked up, the shades of red, orange and purple in the sky grew darker with each passing heartbeat and as Swiftpaw moved through his territory in the direction of fourtrees the temperature dropped as the sun set and the moon rose, causing him to shiver.

The low growing brush and plants tickled his belly fur and the sun was completely set by the time Swiftbreeze found himself at the top of the slope, looking down at fourtrees.

Pure excitement coursed through Swiftbreeze's veins and he charged down into fourtrees, the wind tickling his face and rushing past his whiskers.

His paws thudded against the ground as he tore his way down the hill and into the clearing, when he ran the feelings of freedom and elation were indescribable and almost too much to bear.

Spotting two figures by the great rock he skidded to a halt beside them, engulfed in the two she-cat's familiar scent.

"Swiftpaw!" Moonstream exclaimed, jumping to her paws and leaving her sitting clanmate behind as she rushed forward to touch noses with the Thunderclan warrior.

Swiftbreeze stepped forward, gingerly touching noses with the pale white and gray patched she-cat, purring loudly.

"It's Swift_breeze _now, isn't it?" Swirlspots meowed from her seat beside the great rock, flicking her cream colored tail tip back and forth.

"Really? You're a warrior now!" Moonstream purred, her endless green orbs glowing proudly.

Swiftbreeze puffed his chest out, basking in the loving attention that Moonstream was directing at him.

"Ah hem" Swirlspots cleared her throat loudly "I don't mean to rush you guys but we did come here to talk about some important things" she turned her head, setting her amber eyes on Moonstream "And you know we cant stat out here all night, Reedstar has been getting more and more suspicious since that new cat came into the picture"

Swiftbreeze pricked his ear at the news "New cat? Is it a rouge?"

Moonstream shook her head roughly, nervously looking at her paws "He has a warrior name, and says he used to be in THnuderclan but was banished by Amberstar for defending the one he loved most"

"Who is he?"

"He said his name is Sunvine" Swirlspots grumbled "He just walked right into camp and asked to join, then he and Reedstar vanished into the leaders den and talked all night. By the next morning he was leading patrols and overseeing the apprentice's training"

"That is not good" Swiftbreeze growled "Its true he was banished from the clan, but not for what he says he was. He was really banished for trying to kill one of his clanmates and attacking my mother in front of the whole clan"

Swirlspots sat up straighter, curling her lips in disdain "Reedstar has been giving him more and more responsibility in the clan, and with Mintflower talking about retiring he could possibly make Sunvine deputy"

"But he cant" Moonstream exclaimed leaping up on all fours "Sunvine hasn't trained any Riverclan kits, you have to have an apprentice to become deputy, that's the warrior code"

"Warrior code? As if that would stop Reedstar" Swirlspots snorted "I'm sorry Moonstream, but your father has lost all belief in the code and out ancestors, he is not the leader I used to know"

Moonstream looked down at her paws sadly.

Swiftbreeze shifted on his paws, uncomfortable with the direction this conversation had gone, he had always known that Moonstream's father was strict and unreasonable, but she had never said anything about him not believing in Starclan. Looking to change the subject he spoke up.

"Swirlspots said you had something to tell me" Swiftbreeze meowed, stepping closer to her, worry burning in his blue eyes like a flame.

Moonstream smiled weakly "I'm expecting"

"Expecting what?" Swiftbreeze tilted his head in confusion.

"Kits! You mouse-brain" Swirlspots "What else would she be expecting" she scoffed, but her harsh words were easily replaced by soft glowing amber eyes, affection for her friend overcoming the fear of what these half-clan kits would mean for all of them.

"Really?" Swiftbreeze exclaimed , his eyes involuntarily dropped to her belly, there was only the slightest protrusion to hint at the precious lives growing inside of her.

"When will they be born?" he asked, trying to push away thoughts of his terrible dream involving a pale she-cat with kits.

"Just about two moons" Moonstream purred, ducking her head and giving her belly a few careful licks.

Suddenly all excitement faded from Swiftbreeze's eyes "You have to be careful" he warned, stepping closer, wrapping his tail around her as if it could protect against anything that wished to harm her.

"If Sunvine finds out, I don't know what he would do. He would do anything to hurt my clan, and my family" a low growl rumbled in his chest "Ever since my mother revealed him to the clan, he swore to make her suffer"

Swirlspots narrowed her amber eyes "I wont let that flea-bag anywhere near her" she growled digging her claws into the dirt.

An anxious purr escaped from Swiftbreeze's lips "If he trys anything, if anyone trys to hurt you or the kits then I want you to come to Thunderclan" he reasoned "I'm sure Amberstar is a lot more forgiving than Reedstar"

Moonstream looked anxious at the mention of her father but agreed anyways, she took a step backwards, away from Swiftbreeze "We have to go, if anything happens I will get a message to you"

Swiftbreeze nodded, as not only fear clenched his heart but excitement as well. _"I'm going to be a father!"_

* * *

Review Responses

**Sorrelheart: thanks for the review, its always great to see someone new take the time to leave a response. Hope to see more in the future!**


	14. Chapter 13

**No reviews once again, this makes me sad. Oh well here is the next chapter, hopefully you guys will find it in your hearts to leave a review.**

**Also don't forget to let me know what you think about the new story ideas for a sequel to this. So vote for which of the following ideas you like best, or leave me an idea of your own that you would like to see incorporated into the next book.**

First Idea: Focus on one of Moonstream and Swiftbreeze's kits. Cats begin disappearing from all the clans and have some cats band together to go out in search of them and bring them home.

Second Idea: Focus on one of Moonstream and Swiftbreeze's kits. Have a terrible sickness come and cats from each clan have to go on an adventure to find the cure which could possibly lead them to the tribe from the first book.

Third Idea: Focuses back and forth between one of Moonstream and Swiftbreeze's kits but also a cat from Shadowclan. Have Shadowclan start something. I'm not quite sure where to go with this idea but I feel like I keep leading on to something terrible happening in Shadowclan but I keep going away from it.

* * *

Swiftbreeze trotted toward the camp entrance, a clump of green comfrey leaves trapped in his jaws, filling his nostrils with their sharp herbal scent. The moon sat high in the sky basking the forest in ghostly silver light. As Swiftbreeze made his way down the well-worn path leading directly to the gorse tunnel entrance a shape came into view.

The shape was moving, pacing back and forth outside the entrance and the tom's fear scent hung in the air. Swiftbreeze hurried over to the golden tom whose fur was fluffed out and his ice blue eyes flashed anxiously.

"Lionstreak?" Swiftbreeze dropped the comfrey as he smoke "Is everything all right?"

Suddenly Lionstreak's worried expression turned icy "What are you doing out here this late at night" he snapped "A loyal warrior would be in camp right now, not traipsing around the forest into all hours of the night."

Swiftbreeze flinched as though his former mentor's words had physically struck him. Biting back a heated retort Swiftbreeze took a deep breath and pointed to the pile of comfrey with his tail-tip.

"Hazepaw asked me to get some comfrey for the herb store on my way back from the fighting patrol" the blue warrior tried to keep his voice calm in an attempt to avoid arguing with his former mentor.

Lionstreak looked down at his paws; his tail drooping and laying limply in the dirt "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you" he cast a worried glance to the camp entrance.

"It's just" Lionstreak continued, digging his claws into the dirt "It's Petalblossom."

Suddenly Swiftbreeze realized why the golden warrior was so worried; the pale tabby queen had begun her kitting around mid-day.

"How did everything go" Swiftbreeze purred "Did you meet your kits?"

Lionstreak choked out a shaky purr "Yeah two she-kits, a ginger tabby and a silver tabby"

"That's great news, congratulations" Swiftbreeze frowned as Lionstreak looked away.

"What happened?"

"It was a long difficult kitting" Lionstreak whispered "There was so much blood and Petalblossom was so weak, Topazmist made me wait out here. I don't know what's going on, I don't even know if she is okay."

Swiftbreeze hesitated for a moment, before placing his tail on his former mentor's shoulder reassuringly "I'm sure everything will be fine" he reasoned, trying to hide the worry he felt.

When Lionstreak didn't respond, Swiftbreeze shoved him playfully "Now let's go see these kits of your, hopefully they look more like their mother than you" he meowed teasingly.

Lionstreak purred "They are both beautiful"

"Well let's go. I need someone to pass my mischief on to" Swiftbreeze teased "Maybe I'll even train one of them"

Lionstreak flicked Swiftbreeze on the nose with his tail-tip "I don't think so"

Swiftbreeze rolled his eyes before lowering his head and gripping the comfrey in his jaws and then following the golden warrior into the camp.

* * *

Lionstreak raced towards the nursery while Swiftbreeze slipped into the medicine den. After dropping off the herbs and emerging from the sharp smelling den he noticed nearly the entire clan was awake, nervously awaiting the outcome of the kitting.

Gorsefur, Petalblossom's father, anxiously paced outside the nursery entrance alongside Lionstreak, the blind gray elder stopped many times, pricking his ears as if he was listening to what was going on inside the confines of the nursery walls.

Brightwing, Petalblossom's mother, sat nervously with Shimmerlight and Squirreltail. The two ginger queens murmured comforting words to the anxious mother while the gray and white she-cat stared blankly ahead, her amber eyes glistening with fear and anxiety.

The elders sat outside their den, quietly whispering to one another, their pelts fluffed out and their whiskers twitching nervously.

Skyshine made his way over to the apprentice's den where Willowfall sat with a sleeping Mothkit at her paws. The gray and white warrior nuzzled his mate affectionately yet desperately as he curled his tail protectively around their sleeping kit.

Suddenly two shapes emerged from the nursery, the sharp scents of herbs and blood hovering around them.

Lionstreak stopped in his tracks as Topazmist stepped closer to him murmuring something quietly. As the ginger medicine cat stepped back the golden tabby warrior vanished into the den.

As if moving as one the entire clan rushed to the two medicine cats.

"What happened?"

"Is everyone alright?"

"What about Petalblossom?"

"Is she okay?"

"The kits, how are they?"

Topazmist waved her tail, quieting her anxious clanmates. She took a deep breath before speaking, each cat seemed to be holding their breath awaiting the news. Swiftbreeze felt his heart jump into his throat as he assumed the worst. A new fear clenching his heart as the thought of Moonstream's future kitting nearly suffocating him.

"Petalblossom is fine" Topazmist meowed finally "She has two healthy she-kits. Everyone is fine all thanks to Hazepaw's quick thinking"

Everyone turned their attention to the medicine cat apprentice and Hazepaw scuffed the ground in embarrassment as his mentor praised him.

"I'd say you're ready to become a full medicine cat, we will plan for the ceremony during the next half-moon ceremony" Topazmist purred, resting her tail on her apprentice's shoulder. Hazepaw's blue eyes shone with pride.

Brightwing pushed herself forward, her eyes glowing "Can I see Petalblossom?"

Topazmist nodded "Lionstreak is with her now, you and Gorsefur may see her tonight but no other visitors until I give the okay, she lost a lot of blood and is very tired and weak"

"Willowfall" the ginger medicine cat turned her attention to the other nursing queen "I know this is a lot to ask but Petalblossom is too weak to nurse the kits right now-"

"Of course I will do it" Willowfall interrupted "I'll be happy to help" the silver queen gently prodded Mothkit, waking her.

"I'll take Mothkit for the night" Amberstar spoke up "She is too rambunctious to be in the den while Petalblossom is resting"

Both Topazmist and Willowfall blinked gratefully to Amberstar.

The brown tabby leader collected Mothkit, carrying the tired bundle back to her den.

* * *

The clan began to disperse. Brightwing and Willowfall raced into the nursery. Topazmist sleepily made her way into her den and soon enough only Hazepaw and Swiftbreeze remained in the clearing.

So many thoughts crossed Swiftbreeze's mind, so many things he wanted to discuss with his brother.

"I met Swirlspots and Moonstream tonight" Swiftbreeze admitted "But I brought some comfrey back for you from fourtrees"

Hazepaw sighed "Swiftbreeze, I'm very tired right now, I don't want to stay up all night talking about her" his struggled to hide the disappointment in his voice.

Swiftbreeze bristled "She has a name and she is going to have my kits so I would appreciate it if you would show her some respect"

"Kits?" Hazepaw hissed "Are you mouse-brained?"

"I expected you to be a little more supportive" Swiftbreeze hissed "I love her and I'm going to love our kits"

"But don't you see? You can't claim them as yours; you can't raise them or have any say in their lives. You will have to watch them grow up from across the border. What if this war with Riverclan doesn't end, you may end up in a battle with your own kits, what would you do then?"

"Everything will be fine" Swiftbreeze reasoned "You worry too much"

Hazepaw rolled his eyes "Yeah, because you never worry at all" he teased "Someone has to make up for it"

Swiftbreeze felt a purr rumble in his chest as he glance up at silverpelt "I just feel that everything is going to be okay, I feel like I'm following starclan's path for me"

Hazepaw sighed, giving in to his brother's blind optimism "What else do you need to tell me, I can tell that something is on your mind"

Swiftbreeze felt his mouth go sour as he spoke "Sunvine has returned"

"What?" Hazepaw exclaimed "What do you mean, did you see him?"

"No, but Moonstream and Swirlspots told me that he has joined with Riverclan and has been seen repeatedly speaking alone with Reedstar"

"We have to tell Amberstar" Hazepaw leapt to all fours "This is bad, Sunvine could be using Reedstar's hatred at us to start an all-out war"

"Wait, we can't" Swiftbreeze shot back "Don't you think they will be curious as to how we know that Sunvine is there?"

"Well what do you suggest?" Hazepaw snapped "Keeping quiet about this?" Swiftbreeze looked down not meeting his brother's icy glare.

"How can you even think that, keeping quiet could put everyone in danger, we need to warn Amberstar" Hazepaw reasoned "You can't let your feelings for Moonstream come between your loyalty to the clan"

"They don't" Swiftbreeze snapped, his blue fur bristling and his claws unsheathing "I would never let anything happen to the clan"

"And yet you want to keep this knowledge from your leader?" Hazepaw asked, stepping closer until he was nose to nose with Swiftbreeze, matching his brother's fury with his own.

"Just wait okay? Don't say anything yet we don't even know for sure if it's true" Swiftbreeze reasoned "And even if it is, Sunvine has every right to be there, he was banished from Thunderclan and he hasn't broken the terms of his banishment, he hasn't crossed our borders or stolen our prey. Maybe he changed, and is trying to start a new life"

"Do you even hear what you're saying?" Hazepaw growled "We're talking about a traitor who swore vengeance on this clan, on our family and you want to keep the fact that he has returned a secret?"

"Please" Swiftbreeze begged, his blue eyes burning furiously "I'm asking you, as my brother to keep this a secret, until we have proof that he is still out for vengeance"

Hazepaw looked down at the ground, his tail drooping and his ears flattening against his head "Alright, I promise" then the blue tom looked up fiercely "But I swear on starclan, that if anything bad happens because of this I will tell Amberstar everything"

"Fine" Swiftbreeze growled.

"Fine" Hazepaw answered.

* * *

**Here is an Updated Alliances with a list of all new characters and stuff like that.**

**Thunderclan**

Leader:

**Amberstar:** a light brown tabby she-cat with even lighter almost white tabby stripes and white paws. She has dark amber eyes and cares greatly for all cats. KITS: Drizzlelight, Willowfall, Birdstrike.

Deputy

**Shimmerlight:** a bright ginger she-cat with ice blue eyes, a white muzzle and white chest-fur. Mate: Bluecloud. KITS: Swiftbreeze, Hazepaw.

Medicine Cat

**Topazmist:** a light tabby ginger she-cat with a white muzzle and paws and deep water blue eyes. She is the sister to Squirreltail and Rowanflight.

Medicine Cat Apprentice

**Hazepaw:** a small pale blue gray tom with steel blue-silver eyes and white flecks through his pelt giving him an ominous glow.

Warriors

**Bluecloud:** a large broad shouldered blue tom with large white paws and light blue eyes. Mate: Shimmerlight. KITS: Swiftbreeze, Hazepaw. Apprentice: Moonypaw.

**Stoneshine: **a large gray tom with thick shaggy fur and amber eyes. Mate: Squirreltail. KITS: Flowertail, Mossdapple, Lichenfur. Apprentice: Snowpaw.

**Squirreltail:** a dark fiery ginger she-cat with bright greenish blue eyes and white chest-fur, sister to Rowanflight and Topazmist. Mate: Stoneshine. KITS: Flowertail, Mossdapple, Lichenfur.

**Skyshine:** a large white tom with gray patches and dark amber eyes. Mate: Willowfall. KITS: Mothkit.

**Drizzlelight:** a small light brown tabby she-cat with white tabby stripes.

**Birdstrike:** a large dark gray tom with black tabby stripes and white chest fur and a white muzzle.

**Lionstreak: **a small light ginger tabby tom with darker ginger stripes and white belly fur, light ice blue eyes. Mate: Petalblossom. KITS: Rosekit, Sweetkit.

**Flowertail:** a pale ginger and white patched she-cat with soft green eyes. Apprentice: Icepaw.

**Mossdapple:** a gray and white she-cat with dark blue eyes.

**Lichenfur:** a black she-cat with long fur, a smushed face and bright green eyes.

**Swiftbreeze:** a dark blue gray tom with a white muzzle and white tail tip. The rest of him is a solid blue-gray color, dark water blue eyes and short white whiskers.

Apprentices

**Icepaw:** white tom with dark blue eyes. Mentor: Flowertail.

**Snowpaw:** white tom with amber eyes. Mentor: Stoneshine.

**Moonypaw:** a large muscular white she-cat with pale blue eyes. Formerly known as Moony, and trained in the basics of clan life by Leopardlight. Amberstar has confined her to the apprentice den until she learns the warrior code. Mentor: Bluecloud.

Queens

**Brightwing:** a white and gray she-cat with amber eyes. Mate: Gorsefur. KITS: Petalblossom, Icepaw, Snowpaw.

**Willowfall:** a small light silver tabby she-cat with darker tabby stripes and light amber eyes. Mate: Skyshine. KITS: Mothkit (brown tabby she-kit)

**Petalblossom: **a delicate silver and white tabby she-cat with white paws, a white muzzle and slightly darker silver ripples against her lighter silver pelt. Mate: Lionstreak. KITS: Rosekit(pale ginger she-kit), Sweetkit (silver she-kit).

Elders

******Whitefog:** a smoky white and gray she-cat with dark amber eyes, was Icedapple's sister. KITS: Shinepaw, Spiderpaw, Skyshine.

**Gorsefur:** a dark gray and black tabby tom with dark amber eyes. Mate: Brightwing. Former mate: Silverstreak. KITS: Stoneshine, Mosspaw(deceased), Petalblossom, Icepaw, Snowpaw. Retired when he lost his sight due to the Panic Fever.

**Rowanflight:** a light ginger tom with lighter ginger stripes and dark water blue eyes. Never was the same after Leopardlight vanished, brother to Squirreltail and Topazmist. Mate: Leopardlight. KITS: Shadowsplash(deceased), Shimmerlight.

**Leopardlight:** Slender golden, black and brown dappled she-cat with icy blue eyes and white paws. Mate: Rowanflight. KITS: Shimmerlight, Shadowsplash(deceased).

**Silverstreak:** a slender silver and black streaked she-cat with blue eyes. She has a hard time accepting strange cats and doesn't trust easily. Former mate: Gorsefur. KITS: Stoneshine, Mosspaw(deceased).

**Riverclan**

Leader:

**Reedstar:** a large and muscular gray tom with a light hint of blue in his pelt. Bright yellow eyes and long tooth like claws.

Deputy:

**Mintflower:** a sleek black she-cat with blue eyes and a white throat stripe.

Medicine Cat:

**Nightswallow:** a small black she-cat with blue eyes.

**Moonstream:** a small white she-cat with gray patches over her haunches and on the sides of her back legs, and within the gray patches are dark black stripes. Striking green eyes and delicate pink pads on her paws and a tiny pink nose.

Warriors:

**Pebbleleap:** a small blue she-cat with long flowing fur and a white muzzle. Apprentice: Leafpaw.

**Swirlspots:** a cream colored she-cat with soft luminescent amber eyes and paler white markings around her eyes and paws. Mate: Bumblestrike. KITS: Goldenpaw, Honeypaw.

**Bumblestrike:** a large gray and black striped tom with soft green eyes. Mate: Swirlspots. KITS: Honeypaw, Goldenpaw.

**Foxstreak:** a ginger she-cat with a white throat and white belly fur and silver eyes. Former mate: Featherstripe. KITS: Leafpaw.

**Grouseflight:** a small springy brown tom with bright yellow eyes. Mate: Splashtail. Apprentice: Goldenpaw.

**Flameclaw:** a dark ginger tom with long fur and amber eyes. Mate: Doveheart. KITS: Blazekit, Scorchkit, Emberkit.

**Galeforce:** a young white tom with blue eyes and gray markings around his face. Apprentice: Honeypaw.

**Shalepelt:** a large black she-cat with white paws and blue eyes.

**Foamsplash:** a blue and white patched she-cat with amber eyes.

**Lightbounce:** a white tom with amber eyes.

**Driftflight:** a black she-cat with yellow green eyes.

**Sunvine:** a large sleek gray tom with sandy colored paws and undertones to his fur and dark black stripes, yellow eyes.

Apprentices:

**Leafpaw:** a tortoiseshell she-cat with brown and white dappled fur. Mentor: Pebbleleap.

**Goldenpaw:** a pale ginger and white she-cat with pale amber eyes. Mentor: Grouseflight.

**Honeypaw:** a cream and white she-cat with soft blue eyes. Mentor: Galeforce.

Queens

**Splashtail:** a young ginger and white she-cat with long flowing fur and golden eyes. Mate: Grouseflight.

**Doveheart:** a gray and white she-cat with amber eyes. Mate: Flameclaw. KITS: Blazekit (ginger tom), Emberkit (gray tom), Scorchkit (ginger tom).

**Shadefoot:** a smokey black she-cat with green eyes. Mate: Unknown. KITS: Ivykit (brown tabby she-kit), Perchkit (brown tabby tom).


	15. Chapter 14

**Hey all, here is the next chapter and I hope you all like it, I promise we will get to some more exciting things soon enough but in this chapter you see more of the disagreements between Swiftbreeze and his father. **

**Thank you Nova Lioness for your review and your vote on a new story idea! I'm glad somebody responded.**

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Swiftbreeze stirred from a dreamless sleep as bright rays of sunlight streamed through the leaves lining the warriors den. He groggily lifted his head out of his nest looking around to see the sleeping forms of Birdstrike and Stoneshine in the den with him. The two toms stayed up all night guarding the camp entrance and had probably just fallen asleep. Swiftbreeze carefully stood up and padded quietly out of the den.

He blinked repeatedly as his eyes adjusted to the harsh sunlight and as his eyes focused he could see the camp was alive and resuming their daily routine as if the previous night's events had never happened.

Bluecloud was returning from an early dawn border patrol followed by Drizzlelight and Birdstrike. The brown tabby she-cat yawned loudly before sleepily trudging over to the freshkill pile, nosing through the few remaining stale pieces of prey. She eventually selected a plump robin and two mice, carrying them over to an overgrown holly bush where Birdstrike was waiting to share tongues with his sister.

Squirreltail returned to camp followed by Snowpaw, Mossdapple and Lichenfur, each cat carrying some prey in their jaws from their early morning hunt. Snowpaw headed straight to the elders den while Squirreltail, Mossdapple and Lichenfur dropped their prey off at the pile.

Skyshine trotted over murmuring quietly with Mossdapple and Lichenfur before both she-cats followed him back out of the camp, probably heading to the Shadowclan border on patrol.

Swiftbreeze sighed, his stomach growling loudly, glancing at the small pile of prey he decided against eating, the elders would probably finish off the pile quickly. The morning air was crisp and small bursts of wind ruffled his short blue fur, the ground was damp with morning dew as Swiftbreeze padded forward.

Without thinking he headed straight for the nursery, a primal need to spot the clan's newest additions taking over as he quietly slunk inside the den. His eyes rested on the sleeping forms of Lionstreak and Petalblossom. The golden tom was curled carefully around his mate who looked to be fast asleep. The sounds of soft whimpers drew his attention and Swiftbreeze turned his gaze to where Willowfall was laying down, wide awake with two small bundles at her belly.

The silver striped queen purred "Couldn't resist coming to see them could you?" she teased, stroking the ginger she-kit with her tail-tip earning a contented purr from the newborn.

Swiftbreeze purred "I just came by to see if you would like some fresh kill, the dawn hunting patrol just returned"

Willowfall nodded "Some mice would be good, thank you"

Swiftbreeze nodded, backing away towards the den entrance, before leaving her turned to look at the queen "Did they name them yet?"

"Yes, the ginger she-kit is Rosekit and the silver tabby is Sweetkit" Lionstreak mumbled sleepily as he lifted his head, yawning and blinking furiously as his blue eyes adjusted to the dim nursery lighting.

Swiftbreeze headed toward the freshkill pile, spotting a few mice to bring to the resting queens and Lionstreak, a flash of ginger and white caught his attention as Flowertail approached with her apprentice Icepaw.

"Alright Icepaw, take some prey to the queens and then we can go work on your battle training" Flowertail instructed to the white apprentice.

His blue eyes glowed excitedly "Okay" he quickly grabbed the mice Swiftbreeze had been staring at and raced towards the nursery.

"And be quiet! Petalblossom is resting" Flowertail called after him, rolling her eyes as her apprentice flicked his tail instead of answering her.

Bluecloud trotted over to them followed by his apprentice Moonypaw, and although the she-cat was his apprentice, she was larger than Bluecloud and her muscles rippled under her pelt with each movement. Her long white fur flowed sleekly and Swiftbreeze couldn't help but wonder how she kept her fur so pure white.

"Is Icepaw ready for training?" Bluecloud asked, stretching his muscles and digging his claws into the soft dirt.

Flowertail nodded "As soon as he finishes feeding the queens we can go, Snowpaw won't be joining us, Stoneshine wants him to work on his hunting skills today"

Bluecloud purred "I was wondering why Shimmerlight was planning on putting him on every hunting patrol today" the blue warrior glanced over at Swiftbreeze who was nosing through the prey "Why don't you join us today Swiftbreeze, you don't want your fighting skills to get rusty"

Swiftbreeze unsheathed his claws "Nothing rusty about these skills"

Bluecloud shook a thin layer of morning frost from his pelt, his muscles rippling with the movement "Come on, it will be fun. Besides its not like you have anything better to do today"

"What do you mean?" Swiftbreeze asked "Can't I just do my own thing?"

"You do your own thing enough" Bluecloud hissed "You are a part of this clan and you're going to act like it"

"Amberstar is going to the Moonstone tonight to speak with the ancestors" Bluecloud continued "She is taking all the new warriors with her, it's a tradition that each warrior visit the Moonstone and you and Flowertail's siblings have yet to go"

Flowertail nodded "It's going to be amazing, that's why im taking Icepaw out to train now, we have to be back by mid-day in order to leave on time"

"Oh ok" Swiftbreeze grumbled

"Don't keel over with excitement" Bluecloud hissed sarcastically "This is right of passage among your clanmates. Now let's go" the blue warrior stalked out of the camp, followed by Moonypaw. Flowertail shrugged before following, Icepaw running ahead of them.

"Are you okay?" Flowertail asked as the two warriors padded slowly towards the sandy hollow.

Swiftbreeze nodded "I'm fine" he meowed dismissivly.

Flowertail shoved him with her shoulder "Come on, I know something is bothering you. You can tell me what it is"

Swiftbreeze stared ahead "Its Bluecloud, I feel like he doesn't understand me sometimes"

"What do you mean?" Flowertail asked, a touch of worry in her voice.

"I just feel like this can't be all there is. Take this war with Riverclan for example, why is everyone so okay with it?" Swifbreeze growled "Why isn't anyone trying to change things?"

"Maybe the clan already tried, maybe Riverclan doesn't want the fighting to end" Flowertail reasoned.

"No they do want it to end, none of them want to keep fighting. It's all Reedstar's doing" he snapped.

Flowertail flinched at his words "But you don't know this, there is no way that you could"

"Yeah, I guess" Swiftbreeze grumbled.

"Hey, wanna race?" Flowertail asked "That always cheered you up when we were apprentices"

A small smile tugged at Swiftbreeze's lips "Alright, let's go" without waiting for her response the blue warrior took off, kicking up leaves as his paws left the ground. A surge of energy shot through his limbs and his blood felt like it was on fire as the crisp wind coursed through his fur and whiskers.

He could hear Flowertail's pawsteps thumping just a tail length behind him and he let up a little bit, letting the ginger and white she-cat to gain on him. Glancing to his rights he could see the powerful she-cat right beside him, her green eyes fixed on the forest in front of her. She quickly veered to the right, avoiding a crumbling tree stump while Swiftbreeze leapt over it, continueing on his straight path.

Avoiding the stump forced Flowertail to make up some ground and the she-cat's paw-steps grew less rhythmic as her muscles screamed.

Swiftbreeze narrowed his blue eyes as the ground quickly became sandy, the forest flashed by in a blur and when he reached the sandy hollow Swiftbreeze skidded to a halt sending sand flying. Less than a heartbeat later Flowertail reached him.

"Foxdung, I almost had you" the ginger and white she-cat exclaimed.

Bluecloud flicked his tail back and forth "Alright now that were all here, let's begin"

Swiftbreeze stood back allowing the mentors to instruct their apprentices. He watched as Icepaw practiced defensive moves against larger opponents. Moonypaw easily out maneuvered the smaller apprentice but Icepaw was fast, faster than any of them had thought and he managed to slither out of the larger she-cat grasp.

The small apprentice moved back and forth, hopping like a rabbit, and continually moving which prevented Moonypaw from being able to use her full weight against him. As he continually bounced in and out of the she-cat's reach, Swiftbreeze saw Moonypaw's movements were slowing and felt a smile tug at his lips.

_"Icepaw is trying to tire her out by moving in and out of her reach; Moonypaw is using up a lot more of her energy by having to adjust her position for a new strike and then have to adjust again once he moves. Very smart" _he thought, his ears pricking in interest when suddenly Icepaw's strategy changed and the apprentice launched himself forward, sliding just underneath Moonypaw's outstretched paws. He quickly readjusted himself and kicked a forepaw out, knocking the larger she-cat over. While Moonypaw scrambled to regain her footing, Icepaw leapt onto her belly and pummeled her soft belly with sheathed claws.

"Alright that's enough" Flowertail meowed "Very good plan Icepaw, it worked well against your larger opponent, but the point of this exercise was to defend against the larger opponent not attack them"

Icepaw scuffed the ground with his forepaw "But can't attacking be a kind of defense?"

"I guess, but the point was to practice your defense moves" Flowertail reasoned.

"Aw lay off Flowertail, he did great, I never would have thought of that" Swiftbreeze complemented "I didn't know you were so smart Icepaw"

Icepaw ducked his head licking his chest-fur self-consciously.

"But lets' see how you do against me" Swiftbreeze challenged, stretching out his stiff muscles "But I'll warn you, I'm a lot faster than Moonypaw" his eyes glinted mischievously.

Swiftbreeze began to circle the white apprentice, flicking his tail back and forth in an attempt to unnerve the inexperienced fighter, Icepaw just watched him with calculating blue eyes, un-wavered.

Swiftbreeze leapt forward, in an attempt to gauge the apprentice's strength, landing on the apprentice Icepaw let Swiftbreeze knock him onto his back. As soon as Icepaw was on his back he thrusted upward with his hidlegs, propelling Swiftbreeze over his head and into the sand.

Swiftbreeze stood up, shocked at the apprentice's quick thinking, shaking sand from his pelt he leapt forward again. Icepaw leapt backwards as Swiftbreeze leapt forwards. With each hop Swiftbreeze grew more and more frustrated that he couldn't land a hit on the apprentice. He was unaware that with each leap the two cats were moving closer to the stream that cut the sandy hollow in half.

Suddenly with a burst of energy Swiftbreeze surged forward, colliding with Icepaw, instead of dodging the attack the apprentice quickly ducked and kicked Swiftbreeze's paws out from under him causing the warrior to lose his footing, toppling head first into the stream.

Swiftbreeze felt the cool water on his pelt before he realized he had fallen in. Spluttering as he choked on water he propelled himself upwards until his head broke the surface, taking a deep fresh breath Swfitbreeze confidently paddled forward until he reached the bank, there he easily pulled his soaking wet body from the river's icy clutches.

When he climbed out he found himself facing four fear stricken faces.

"How did you do that?" Flowertail asked, her hackles raised in fear.

"We thought you would be thrown down the river for sure" Bluecloud murmured.

"How did you learn to swim?" Icepaw asked, amazement shining in his blue eyes.

Swiftbreeze shook his pelt, sending icy water droplets flying everywhere "I don't know, instincts I guess"

Ignoring the stares his clanmates gave him he shook some more water from his pelt before looking up at the sky "It's getting close to mid-day, we should probably head back to camp"

Swiftbreeze ignored Bluecloud's disapproving look as he trotted past him, leading the patrol back to the camp, in order to prepare for the trip to the moonstone.

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**Review Responses**

**Nova Lioness: thanks for the review, it was the first one in a long time and I was super excited to see it lol. I am also partial to idea 2 as well but would need to hammer out what the sickness would be, possibly the panic fever from before? Idk and I would need to introduce more characters from the other clans. If you have any suggestions please PM me with your ideas, I would love to hear them!**


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